Abstract There is a sparse number of credible source models available from largemagnitude past earthquakes. A stochastic source-model-generation algorithm thus becomes necessary for robust risk quantification using scenario earthquakes. We present an algorithm that combines the physics of fault ruptures as imaged in laboratory earthquakes with stress estimates on the fault constrained by field ...

[1] In a previous paper [Bouchon et al., 2001], we presented what we believe are strong indications of supershear rupture over parts of the faults of the 1999 Turkey earthquakes. These findings are based on near-fault recordings and modeling of the ground motion. We also showed that the supershear value inferred for the Izmit earthquake (the only event for which this velocity is well resolved) ...

[1] The November 2000 New Ireland earthquake sequence started with a Mw = 8.0 left-lateral main shock on 16 November and was followed by a series of aftershocks with primarily thrust mechanisms. The earthquake sequence was associated with a locally damaging tsunami on the islands of New Ireland and nearby New Britain, Bougainville, and Buka. Results from numerical tsunami-propagation models of ...

Earthquakes can cause tremendous loss of life and property yet predicting the behavior of earthquake fault systems is exceptionally difficult. The Earths crust is complex and earthquakes generate at depth, which is problematic for understanding earthquake fault behavior. Geodetic imaging observations of crustal deformation from Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Apert...

The New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) in the central United States is one of the most active regions of intraplate seismicity in North America and site of the devastating 1811–1812 earthquake sequence (Nuttli, 1973; Johnston and Schweig, 1996). The NMSZ lies within the NE–SW trending Reelfoot rift (Fig. 1), which represents a failed rift arm that developed during the Late Proterozoic and Early Cam...

[1] The clustering of earthquakes in time on the same fault affects the rate and pattern of interseismic deformation. We develop a simple analytic viscoelastic model of the surface velocity field through a clustered earthquake cycle by superposing the velocities of individual earthquake cycles of constant period but varying phase. Velocity profiles prior to and after an earthquake show a wider ...

On 24 August 2014, the M 6.0 South Napa earthquake shook much of the San Francisco Bay area, leading to significant damage in the NapaValley. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the West Napa fault (122.313° W, 38.22° N, 11.3 km), a mapped structure located between the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, with nearly pure right-lateral strike-slip motion (strike 157°, dip 77°, rake –1...

Southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington State are subject to megathrust earthquakes, deep intraslab events, and earthquakes in the continental crust. Of the three types of earthquakes, the most poorly understood are the crustal events. Despite a high level of seismicity, there is no obvious correlation between the historical crustal earthquakes and the mapped surface faults of...

Slow slip forms part of the spectrum of fault behaviour between stable creep and destructive earthquakes1,2. Slow slip occurs near the boundaries of large earthquake rupture zones3,4 and may sometimes trigger fast earthquakes2. It is thought to occur in faults comprised of rocks that strengthen under fast slip rates, preventing rupture as a normal earthquake, or on faults that have elevated por...

The criteria for designating an "Active Fault" not only are important for understanding regional tectonics, but also are a paramount issue for assessing the earthquake risk of faults that are near important structures such as nuclear power plants. Here we propose a proxy, based on the preservation of amorphous ultrafine particles, to assess fault activity within the last millennium. X-ray diffr...