Dynamic earthquake rupture in the lower crust

Dynamic Stress Changes during Earthquake Rupture

We assess two competing dynamic interpretations that have been proposed for the short slip durations characteristic of kinematic earthquake models derived by inversion of earthquake waveform and geodetic data. The first interpretation would require a fault constitutive relationship in which rapid dynamic restrengthening of the fault surface occurs after passage of the rupture front, a hypothesi...

Modeling Dynamic Rupture in a 3D Earthquake Fault Model

We propose a fourth-order staggered-grid finite-difference method to study dynamic faulting in three dimensions. The method uses an implementation of the boundary conditions on the fault that allows the use of general friction models including slip weakening and rate dependence. Because the staggered-grid method defines stresses and particle velocities at different grid points, we preserve symm...

Postseismic deformation following the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, Taiwan: Implication for lower-crust rheology

[1] On 1999 September 21, the Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake ruptured a segment of the Chelungpu Fault, a frontal thrust fault of the Western Foothills of Taiwan. The stress perturbation induced by the rupture triggered a transient deformation across the island, which was well recorded by a wide network of continuously operating GPS stations. The analysis of more than ten years of these data reveals...

The Mechanics of Earthquake Rupture

A Major Earthquake in the Strong Crust: the 1999 Chi-chi Earthquake

The 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake (MW=7.6; ML=7.3) ruptured in an area considered unusual in that, historically, large earthquakes have been unheard of and the background seismicity are low. A detailed investigation of the crustal characteristics based on seismicity, subsurface structures and GPS surveys shows that crustal strength in the low-seismicity block was most likely stronger than in the surr...