Stress State and Earthquake Triggering on the Outer Rise of the Southern Vanuatu Subduction Zone, Southern New Caledonia

Abstract

An analysis of earthquakes recorded in southern New Caledonia (SNC) over 14 months during 2018–2019 reveals focal mechanisms consistent with a normal-faulting stress state. The minimum principal stress is perpendicular to the Vanuatu subduction zone (VSZ), which is 200 km away, and is highly oblique to the local topographic ridge of New Caledonia, which may induce additional tension. An Mw 7.5 earthquake occurred in VSZ on 5 December 2018, and focal mechanisms appear to be different to those before the big earthquake. Significant increase in seismicity rates in both VSZ and SNC are observed following this large earthquake. A strong correlation between local and subduction zone seismicity rates is confirmed by analyses of seismic records before and after large subduction zone earthquakes 200–350 km away during the period of 2000–2018. The local seismicity rate and seismic hazard in SNC is about four times higher immediately after a large subduction earthquake, and Omori decay returns it to background levels after about 30 days. The triggering mechanisms remains unclear, but our study provides the first observations and a framework for future work.