Detailed crustal deformation and fault rupture of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal, revealed from ScanSAR-based interferograms of ALOS-2

We have successfully detected widely distributed ground displacements for the 2015 Gorkha earthquake by applying a ScanSAR-based interferometry analysis of Advanced Land Observing Satellite 2 (ALOS-2) L-band data. A major displacement area extends with a length of about 160 km in the east-west direction, and the most concentrated crustal deformation with ground displacement exceeding 1 m is located 20–30 km east from Kathmandu. A quasi-vertical displacement estimated by combining the ascending and the descending data indicates upheaval of about 1.4 m at maximum. We inverted the synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) data including both of the main shock (moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8) and the largest aftershock (Mw 7.3) to construct a slip distribution model. Our model shows a nearly pure reverse fault motion with a slip amount of approximately 6 m at maximum, and the spatial extent is zonally distributed within a distance of 50 to 100 km from the surface along downdip direction. The downdip end of the slip is quite consistent with that of the interseismic coupling area geodetically inferred in previous studies. On the other hand, there is no significant slip at shallow depth in spite of the fact that the plate interface is thought to be fully locked there, may be suggesting that there still remains a potential of fault slip. The slip distribution unnaturally bifurcates in the east, and we can identify a clear-cut slip deficit area with a radius of ~10 km just west side of the Mw 7.3 event, where the slip amount reaches only 20 cm at most. This area is presumably subjected to a strong shear stress which should promote a reverse fault slip. There is a possibility to produce a fault slip equivalent to Mw ~7.0 in the future although we do not know if the slip heterogeneity would be smoothed out by a seismic event or an aseismic event.