Recurrence interval of large earthquake on an active fault zone is an important parameter in assessing seismic hazard. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (Mw 7.9) occurred on the central Longmen Shan fault zone and ruptured the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF) and the Guanxian-Jiangyou fault (GJF). However, there is a considerable discrepancy among recurrence intervals of large earthquake in preseismic a...

There are several lines of evidence that suggest that thermal pressurization (TP) of pore fluid within a low-permeability fault core may play the key role in the development of earthquake slip. To elucidate effects of TP on spontaneous fault slip, I consider solutions for a steadily propagating slip pulse on a fault with a constant sliding friction, the level of which may reflect other thermall...

[1] Geologic investigations of how the Tibetan plateau is currently deforming have focused primarily on its boundary faults. Consequently, how the interior of the plateau deforms remains poorly understood. To fill this gap in knowledge, we conducted field mapping, analysis of remote sensing and digital topographic data, and reinterpretation of existing geologic maps in central Tibet. This study...

The ~30-km-long surface ruptures associated with the Mw 7.0 (Mj 7.3) earthquake at 01:25 JST on April 16 in Kumamoto Prefecture appeared along the previously mapped ~100-km-long active fault called the Futagawa-Hinagu fault zone (FHFZ). The surface ruptures appeared to have extended further west out of the main FHFZ into the Kumamoto Plain. Although InSAR analysis by Geospatial Information Auth...

The Quchan fault is located in Quchan - Shirvan area which is a part of Chenaran- Bojnourd plain in Kopeh-Dagh zone, NE Iran. The Quchan active fault with northwest – southeast trending is one of the most important strike-slip faults in the area which its activity led to the numerous historical and instrumental earthquakes. The Neo-tectonic activities of this fault are investigated by the drain...

The internal structure and petrophysical property distribution of fault zones are commonly exceedingly complex compared to the surrounding host rock from which they are derived. This in turn produces highly complex fluid flow patterns which affect petroleum migration and trapping as well as reservoir behavior during production and injection. Detailed rendering and forecasting of fluid flow insi...

[1] We report on laboratory experiments examining the frictional and hydrologic properties of fault gouge and wall rock along a borehole transect that crosses a major out-of-sequence thrust splay fault within the Nankai accretionary complex. At 25 MPa effective normal stress, the fault zone material is frictionally weak (m 0.44) and exhibits low permeability after shearing (k < 5.5 10 20 m). Fa...

[1] We use numerical simulations to investigate how fault zone dilatancy and pore fluid decompression influence fault strength and friction constitutive behavior. Dilatant hardening can change the frictional response and the effective critical stiffness, Kcr, which determines the transition from stable to unstable sliding in velocity weakening fault zones. We study the frictional shear strength...

We carried out geochemical and mineralogical analyses on fault-zone rocks from the Anko section of the Median Tectonic Line in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, to investigate coseismic physicochemical processes in the fault zone. The latest fault zone in the Anko section contains cataclasite, fault breccia, and fault gouge of granitic composition, and brecciated basic schist. Protoliths of the graniti...