Resolution of fault slip along the 470‐km‐long rupture of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and its implications

Thatcher, Wayne; Marshall, Grant A.; Lisowski, M.

doi:10.1029/96jb03486

Cited by 112 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This rupture length is in stark contrast to that of, for example, the 200+ km long rupture of the 17 November 2013 M w 7.8 Scotia Ridge earthquake [Ye et al, 2014] located on an active oceanic transform fault or the 300-470 km long rupture of the 1906 San Francisco M 7.7-7.9 earthquake [Wald et al, 1993;Thatcher et al, 1997]. The compact dimension and shallow concentration of slip for the 2016 event result in a high stress drop estimate of 15 to 20 MPa, comparable to estimates for the 11 April 2012 and 18 June 2000 large strike slip events within the broad Wharton Basin intraplate deformation zone and higher than typical values for other large strike slip events [e.g., Ye et al, 2014].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin M_w 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

Lay

Ammon

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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The diffuse deformation zone between the Indian and Australian plates has hosted numerous major and great earthquakes during the seismological record, including the 11 April 2012 Mw 8.6 event, the largest recorded intraplate earthquake. On 2 March 2016, an Mw 7.8 strike‐slip faulting earthquake occurred in the northwestern Wharton Basin, in a region bracketed by north‐south trending fracture zones with no previously recorded large event nearby. Despite the large magnitude, only minor source finiteness is evident in aftershock locations or resolvable from seismic wave processing including high‐frequency P wave backprojections and Love wave directivity analysis. Our analyses indicate that the event ruptured bilaterally on a north‐south trending fault over a length of up to 70 km, with rupture speed of ≤ 2 km/s, and a total duration of ~35 s. The estimated stress drop, ~20 MPa, is high, comparable to estimates for other large events in this broad intraplate oceanic deformation zone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin M_w 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

Lay

Ammon

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The light gray color represents the current effective stress on the fault. The initial distribution of effective stress (light gray, top line) was selected so that the synthetic quake reproduced the surface slip of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (squares, bottom) as inferred by the geodetic analysis of Thatcher et al (1997). Time since nucleation is listed to the left, and the black coloring highlights actively sliding parts of the fault.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Simulations: A Step Toward a Standard Physical Earthquake Model

Ward

2000

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

109

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SUMMARY: Earthquakes in California's San Francisco Bay Area are likely to be more strongly affected by stress interaction than earthquakes in any other place in the world because of the region's closely spaced, sub-parallel distribution of faults. I believe therefore, that meaningful quantification of earthquake probability and hazard in the Bay Area can be made only with the guidance provided by physically-based and region-wide earthquake models that account for this interaction. This paper represents a first step in developing a Standard Physical Earthquake Model for the San Francisco Bay Area through realistic, 3000-year simulations of earthquakes on all of the area's major faults. These simulations demonstrate that a Standard Physical Earthquake Model is entirely feasible, they illustrate its application, and they blueprint its construction. A Standard Physical Earthquake Model provides the mechanism to integrate fully the diverse disciplines within the earthquake research community. As a platform for data utilization and verification, a physical earthquake model can employ directly any earthquake property that is measurable in the field or in the laboratory to tune and test its seismicity products. As a platform for probability forecasts, a physical earthquake model can supply rational estimates of every imaginable earthquake statistic while simultaneously satisfying all slip and earthquake rate constraints. As a platform for hazard analysis, a physical earthquake model can compute earthquake shaking intensity from first principles by convolving a full suite of rupture scenarios with site-specific dislocation Green's functions. Physical earthquake models have advanced greatly in the last decade. Simulations of earthquake generation and recurrence are now sufficiently credible that such calculations can begin to take substantial roles in scientific studies of earthquake probability and hazard.

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“…6a) reveals that the values for OV1872 generally cluster toward the top of the range estimated at any given distance for SF1906, although at distances greater than ∼200 km, intensities for the former event are systematically higher. Furthermore, if we one assumed a longer rupture length for SF1906, as inferred by some studies (e.g., Thatcher et al, 1997;Boatwright and Bundock, 2005;Song et al, 2008), one would reduce the near-fault distance for a number of the high intensity values. That is, the SF1906 intensity values shown in Figure 6a would decay even more quickly with distance.…”

Section: Interpretation Of Macroseismic Observationsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Wald et al (1993) infer a surface-wave magnitude of 7.7; Thatcher et al (1997) estimate M 7.9 from geodetic observations. Rupture lengths from 300-480 km are reported in the literature; the range of values reflects uncertainties in the extent of the rupture offshore north of Point Arena.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because, however, the range of inferred magnitudes for the OV1872 are in the range 7.4-7.8, a key question is how its intensity distribution compares to that of the SF1906, for which we have both an instrumentally determined magnitude of 7.7-7.9 (Sieh, 1978;Wald et al, 1993;Thatcher et al, 1997;Song et al, 2008) and a set of recently reinterpreted intensities (Boatwright and Bundock, 2005). To compare intensity values for OV1872 and SF1906, we first determine MMI as a function of distance to the fault (Fig.…”

Section: Interpretation Of Macroseismic Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Revisiting the 1872 Owens Valley, California, Earthquake

Hough

Hutton

2008

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

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The 26 March 1872 Owens Valley earthquake is among the largest historical earthquakes in California. The felt area and maximum fault displacements have long been regarded as comparable to, if not greater than, those of the great San Andreas fault earthquakes of 1857 and 1906, but mapped surface ruptures of the latter two events were 2-3 times longer than that inferred for the 1872 rupture. The preferred magnitude estimate of the Owens Valley earthquake has thus been 7.4, based largely on the geological evidence. Reinterpreting macroseismic accounts of the Owens Valley earthquake, we infer generally lower intensity values than those estimated in earlier studies. Nonetheless, as recognized in the early twentieth century, the effects of this earthquake were still generally more dramatic at regional distances than the macroseismic effects from the 1906 earthquake, with light damage to masonry buildings at (nearest-fault) distances as large as 400 km. Macroseismic observations thus suggest a magnitude greater than that of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which appears to be at odds with geological observations. However, while the mapped rupture length of the Owens Valley earthquake is relatively low, the average slip was high. The surface rupture was also complex and extended over multiple fault segments. It was first mapped in detail over a century after the earthquake occurred, and recent evidence suggests it might have been longer than earlier studies indicated. Our preferred magnitude estimate is M w 7.8-7.9, values that we show are consistent with the geological observations. The results of our study suggest that either the Owens Valley earthquake was larger than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake or that, by virtue of source properties and/or propagation effects, it produced systematically higher ground motions at regional distances. The latter possibility implies that some large earthquakes in California will generate significantly larger ground motions than San Andreas fault events of comparable magnitude.

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Resolution of fault slip along the 470‐km‐long rupture of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and its implications

Cited by 112 publications

References 37 publications

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin M_w 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin M_w 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Simulations: A Step Toward a Standard Physical Earthquake Model

Revisiting the 1872 Owens Valley, California, Earthquake

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Resolution of fault slip along the 470‐km‐long rupture of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and its implications

Cited by 112 publications

References 37 publications

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin Mw 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin Mw 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Simulations: A Step Toward a Standard Physical Earthquake Model

Revisiting the 1872 Owens Valley, California, Earthquake

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin M_w 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates

The 2 March 2016 Wharton Basin M_w 7.8 earthquake: High stress drop north‐south strike‐slip rupture in the diffuse oceanic deformation zone between the Indian and Australian Plates