Large earthquakes produce crustal deformation that can be quantified by geodetic measurements, allowing for the determination of the slip distribution on the fault. We used data from Global Positioning System (GPS) networks in Central Chile to infer the static deformation and the kinematics of the 2010 moment magnitude (M(w)) 8.8 Maule megathrust earthquake. From elastic modeling, we found a total rupture length of ~500 kilometers where slip (up to 15 meters) concentrated on two main asperities situated on both sides of the epicenter. We found that rupture reached shallow depths, probably extending up to the trench. Resolvable afterslip occurred in regions of low coseismic slip. The low-frequency hypocenter is relocated 40 kilometers southwest of initial estimates. Rupture propagated bilaterally at about 3.1 kilometers per second, with possible but not fully resolved velocity variations.
Abstract. We have used observed band-pass filtered accelerograms and a previously determined slip distribution to invert for the dynamic rupture propagation of the 1992 Landers earthquake. In our simulations, dynamic rupture grows under the simultaneous control of initial stress and rupture resistance by friction, which we modeled using a simple slip-weakening law. We used a simplified Landers fault model where the fault segments were combined into a single vertical, planar fault. By trial and error we modified an initial stress field, inferred from the kinematic slip distribution proposed by Wald and Heaton [1994], until dynamic rupture generated a rupture history and final slip distribution that approximately matched those determined by the kinematic inversion. We found that rupture propagation was extremely sensitive to small changes in the distribution of prestress and that a delicate balance with energy release rate controls the average rupture speed. For the inversion we generated synthetic 0.5 Hz ground displacements using an efficient Green's function propagator method (AXITRA). This method enables us to propagate the radiation generated by the dynamic rupture to distances greater than those feasible using the finite difference method. The dynamic model built by trial-and-error inversion provides a very satisfactory fit between synthetics and strong motion data. We validated this model using records from stations used in the slip inversion as well as some which were not included. We also inverted for a complementary model that fits the data just as well but in which the initial stress was perfectly uniform while rupture resistance was heterogeneous. This demonstrates that inversion of ground motion is nonunique.
No major earthquake occurred in North Chile since the 1877 M w 8.6 subduction earthquake that produced a huge tsunami. However, geodetic measurements conducted over the last decade in this area show that the upper plate is actually deforming, which reveals some degree of locking on the subduction interface. This accumulation of elastic deformation is likely to be released in a future earthquake. Because of the long elapsed time since 1877 and the rapid accumulation of deformation (thought to be 6-7 cm yr −1 ), many consider this area is a mature seismic gap where a major earthquake is due and seismic hazard is high. We present a new Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field, acquired between 2008 and 2012, that describes in some detail the interseismic deformation between 18 • S and 24 • S. We invert for coupling distribution on the Nazca-South America subduction interface using elastic modelling. Our measurements require that, at these latitudes, 10 to 12 mm yr −1 (i.e. 15 per cent of the whole convergence rate) are accommodated by the clockwise rotation of an Andean block bounded to the East by the subandean fold-and-thrust belt. This reduces the accumulation rate on the subduction interface to 56 mm yr −1 in this area. Coupling variations on the subduction interface both along-strike and along-dip are described. We find that the North Chile seismic gap is segmented in at least two highly locked segments bounded by narrow areas of weak coupling. This coupling segmentation is consistent with our knowledge of the historical ruptures and of the instrumental seismicity of the region. Intersegment zones (Iquique, Mejillones) correlate with high background seismic rate and local tectonic complexities on the upper or downgoing plates. The rupture of either the Paranal or the Loa segment alone could easily produce a M w 8.0-8.3 rupture, and we propose that the Loa segment (from 22.5 • S to 20.8 • S) may be the one that ruptured in 1877.
Although magmatism may occur during the earliest stages of continental rifting, its role in strain accommodation remains weakly constrained by largely 2‐D studies. We analyze seismicity data from a 13 month, 39‐station broadband seismic array to determine the role of magma intrusion on state‐of‐stress and strain localization, and their along‐strike variations. Precise earthquake locations using cluster analyses and a new 3‐D velocity model reveal lower crustal earthquakes beneath the central basins and along projections of steep border faults that degas CO2. Seismicity forms several disks interpreted as sills at 6–10 km below a monogenetic cone field. The sills overlie a lower crustal magma chamber that may feed eruptions at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano. After determining a new ML scaling relation, we determine a b‐value of 0.87 ± 0.03. Focal mechanisms for 65 earthquakes, and 13 from a catalogue prior to our array reveal an along‐axis stress rotation of ∼60° in the magmatically active zone. New and prior mechanisms show predominantly normal slip along steep nodal planes, with extension directions ∼N90°E north and south of an active volcanic chain consistent with geodetic data, and ∼N150°E in the volcanic chain. The stress rotation facilitates strain transfer from border fault systems, the locus of early‐stage deformation, to the zone of magma intrusion in the central rift. Our seismic, structural, and geochemistry results indicate that frequent lower crustal earthquakes are promoted by elevated pore pressures from volatile degassing along border faults, and hydraulic fracture around the margins of magma bodies. Results indicate that earthquakes are largely driven by stress state around inflating magma bodies.
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