Earthquake Ruptures on Rough Faults
نویسندگان
چکیده
Natural fault surfaces exhibit roughness at all scales, with root-mean-square height fluctuations of order 10−3 to 10−2 times the profile length. We study earthquake rupture propagation on such faults, using strongly rate-weakening fault friction and offfault plasticity. Inelastic deformation bounds stresses to reasonable values and prevents fault opening. Stress perturbations induced by slip on rough faults cause irregular rupture propagation and the production of incoherent high-frequency ground motion.
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