Abstract Fault surfaces are characterized by an inhomogeneous friction distribution, that can be represented with asperity models. mechanics is dominated asperities, so a fruitful approach to use discrete models, where asperities the basic elements and state of fault described average values stress, slip on each asperity. Under reasonable assumptions, equations motion solved analytically, deepe...

A rupture model with varying rupture front expansion velocity for the March 11, 2011, Tohoku-Oki earthquake was obtained by the joint inversion of high-rate Global Positioning System (GPS) data and ocean bottom GPS/acoustic (OB-GPS) data. The inverted rupture velocity with a complex distribution gradually increases near the hypocenter and shows rapid rupture expansion at the shallowest part of ...

In order to investigate the applicability of the asperity model to intraplate earthquakes we have studied the rupture process of the great 1977 Sumba normal-faulting earthquake (Mw=8.2-8.3), one of the largest earthquakes since 1963. This event has been variously interpreted as a plate detachment event (i.e., rupture through the entire lithosphere) or a shallow plate-bending event. We have anal...

[1] Recent results from laboratory experiments on a broad range of mineral systems exhibit dramatic drops in the effective friction coefficient m once the slip rate exceeds a critical level Vw, which is typically O(0.1) m/s. This ‘‘flash weakening’’ has been attributed to the effects of localized heating at highly stressed microscopic asperities. We extend previous phenomenological treatments t...

We used a comparison of source time function pulse widths to show that a group of earthquakes on the San Andreas fault near Parkfield have a constant duration over a magnitude range of 1.4–3.7. Earthquakes on secondary faults have an increase in duration with magnitude, which is the expected relationship for the usual observation of constant stress drop. The constant duration suggests that faul...

Existing data on source parameters of large crustal earthquakes (subduction events are not considered here) over a wide range of repeat imes indicate that, for a given magnitude (Ms or Mw), earthquakes with long repeat times have shorter fault lengths than those with short repeat imes. A shorter fault length for a given magnitude indicates a larger average stress drop which reflects the average...

We show using a comparison of source time function pulse widths that a group of earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault near Parkfield have a constant duration over a magnitude range of 1.4 to 3.7. Earthquakes on secondary faults have an increase in duration with magnitude, which is the expected relationship for the usual observation of constant stress drop. The constant duration suggests that fau...