Low-frequency earthquakes in Shikoku, Japan, and their relationship to episodic tremor and slip

Non-volcanic seismic tremor was discovered in the Nankai trough subduction zone in southwest Japan and subsequently identified in the Cascadia subduction zone. In both locations, tremor is observed to coincide temporally with large, slow slip events on the plate interface downdip of the seismogenic zone. The relationship between tremor and aseismic slip remains uncertain, however, largely owing to difficulty in constraining the source depth of tremor. In southwest Japan, a high quality borehole seismic network allows identification of coherent S-wave (and sometimes P-wave) arrivals within the tremor, whose sources are classified as low-frequency earthquakes. As low-frequency earthquakes comprise at least a portion of tremor, understanding their mechanism is critical to understanding tremor as a whole. Here, we provide strong evidence that these earthquakes occur on the plate interface, coincident with the inferred zone of slow slip. The locations and characteristics of these events suggest that they are generated by shear slip during otherwise aseismic transients, rather than by fluid flow. High pore-fluid pressure in the immediate vicinity, as implied by our estimates of seismic P- and S-wave speeds, may act to promote this transient mode of failure. Low-frequency earthquakes could potentially contribute to seismic hazard forecasting by providing a new means to monitor slow slip at depth.     

Resonant slow fault slip in subduction zones forced by climatic load stress

Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements at subduction plate boundaries often record fault movements similar to earthquakes but much slower, occurring over timescales of approximately 1 week to approximately 1 year. These 'slow slip events' have been observed in Japan, Cascadia, Mexico, Alaska and New Zealand. The phenomenon is poorly understood, but several observations hint at the processes underlying slow slip. Although slip itself is silent, seismic instruments often record coincident low-amplitude tremor in a narrow (1-5 cycles per second) frequency range. Also, modelling of GPS data and estimates of tremor location indicate that slip focuses near the transition from unstable ('stick-slip') to stable friction at the deep limit of the earthquake-producing seismogenic zone. Perhaps most intriguingly, slow slip is periodic at several locations, with recurrence varying from 6 to 18 months depending on which subduction zone (or even segment) is examined. Here I show that such periodic slow fault slip may be a resonant response to climate-driven stress perturbations. Fault slip resonance helps to explain why slip events are periodic, why periods differ from place to place, and why slip focuses near the base of the seismogenic zone. Resonant slip should initiate within the rupture zone of future great earthquakes, suggesting that slow slip may illuminate fault properties that control earthquake slip.     

Non-volcanic tremor driven by large transient shear stresses

Non-impulsive seismic radiation or 'tremor' has long been observed at volcanoes and more recently around subduction zones. Although the number of observations of non-volcanic tremor is steadily increasing, the causative mechanism remains unclear. Some have attributed non-volcanic tremor to the movement of fluids, while its coincidence with geodetically observed slow-slip events at regular intervals has led others to consider slip on the plate interface as its cause. Low-frequency earthquakes in Japan, which are believed to make up at least part of non-volcanic tremor, have focal mechanisms and locations that are consistent with tremor being generated by shear slip on the subduction interface. In Cascadia, however, tremor locations appear to be more distributed in depth than in Japan, making them harder to reconcile with a plate interface shear-slip model. Here we identify bursts of tremor that radiated from the Cascadia subduction zone near Vancouver Island, Canada, during the strongest shaking from the moment magnitude M(w) = 7.8, 2002 Denali, Alaska, earthquake. Tremor occurs when the Love wave displacements are to the southwest (the direction of plate convergence of the overriding plate), implying that the Love waves trigger the tremor. We show that these displacements correspond to shear stresses of approximately 40 kPa on the plate interface, which suggests that the effective stress on the plate interface is very low. These observations indicate that tremor and possibly slow slip can be instantaneously induced by shear stress increases on the subduction interface-effectively a frictional failure response to the driving stress.     

潮汐应力与云南及邻区的地震

提出了潮汐应力对发震断层的力学模式,描述了附加潮汐应力对发震断层的促滑作用方式,并将该模式应用于云南及邻区的地震,计算了173个地震震源处沿主压应力P轴和主张应力T轴方向的附加潮汐应力分量,分析了这睦量对发震断层的作用方式以及受潮汐应力促滑作用的发震断层类型,结果表明,所研究的云南及邻区发生的173个地震中,64％的地震发震断层受到潮汐应力的促滑作用,其中,受减压型促滑作用的发震断层数比例略大于受增压型促滑作用的发动层数比例;在受到潮汐应力促滑作用的111个发震断层中,走滑型发震断层占67％,倾滑斜滑型发震断层占33％,说明云南及邻区的走滑型地震较易受到潮汐应力的触发作用。     

A scaling law for slow earthquakes

Recently, a series of unusual earthquake phenomena have been discovered, including deep episodic tremor, low-frequency earthquakes, very-low-frequency earthquakes, slow slip events and silent earthquakes. Each of these has been demonstrated to arise from shear slip, just as do regular earthquakes, but with longer characteristic durations and radiating much less seismic energy. Here we show that these slow events follow a simple, unified scaling relationship that clearly differentiates their behaviour from that of regular earthquakes. We find that their seismic moment is proportional to the characteristic duration and their moment rate function is constant, with a spectral high-frequency decay of f(-1). This scaling and spectral behaviour demonstrates that they can be thought of as different manifestations of the same phenomena and that they comprise a new earthquake category. The observed scale dependence of rupture velocity for these events can be explained by either a constant low-stress drop model or a diffusional constant-slip model. This new scaling law unifies a diverse class of slow seismic events and may lead to a better understanding of the plate subduction process and large earthquake generation.     

Foreshock sequences and short-term earthquake predictability on East Pacific Rise transform faults

East Pacific Rise transform faults are characterized by high slip rates (more than ten centimetres a year), predominantly aseismic slip and maximum earthquake magnitudes of about 6.5. Using recordings from a hydroacoustic array deployed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, we show here that East Pacific Rise transform faults also have a low number of aftershocks and high foreshock rates compared to continental strike-slip faults. The high ratio of foreshocks to aftershocks implies that such transform-fault seismicity cannot be explained by seismic triggering models in which there is no fundamental distinction between foreshocks, mainshocks and aftershocks. The foreshock sequences on East Pacific Rise transform faults can be used to predict (retrospectively) earthquakes of magnitude 5.4 or greater, in narrow spatial and temporal windows and with a high probability gain. The predictability of such transform earthquakes is consistent with a model in which slow slip transients trigger earthquakes, enrich their low-frequency radiation and accommodate much of the aseismic plate motion.     

Earthquakes triggered by silent slip events on Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii

Slow-slip events, or 'silent earthquakes', have recently been discovered in a number of subduction zones including the Nankai trough in Japan, Cascadia, and Guerrero in Mexico, but the depths of these events have been difficult to determine from surface deformation measurements. Although it is assumed that these silent earthquakes are located along the plate megathrust, this has not been proved. Slow slip in some subduction zones is associated with non-volcanic tremor, but tremor is difficult to locate and may be distributed over a broad depth range. Except for some events on the San Andreas fault, slow-slip events have not yet been associated with high-frequency earthquakes, which are easily located. Here we report on swarms of high-frequency earthquakes that accompany otherwise silent slips on Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii. For the most energetic event, in January 2005, the slow slip began before the increase in seismicity. The temporal evolution of earthquakes is well explained by increased stressing caused by slow slip, implying that the earthquakes are triggered. The earthquakes, located at depths of 7-8 km, constrain the slow slip to be at comparable depths, because they must fall in zones of positive Coulomb stress change. Triggered earthquakes accompanying slow-slip events elsewhere might go undetected if background seismicity rates are low. Detection of such events would help constrain the depth of slow slip, and could lead to a method for quantifying the increased hazard during slow-slip events, because triggered events have the potential to grow into destructive earthquakes.     

Friction falls towards zero in quartz rock as slip velocity approaches seismic rates

An important unsolved problem in earthquake mechanics is to determine the resistance to slip on faults in the Earth's crust during earthquakes. Knowledge of coseismic slip resistance is critical for understanding the magnitude of shear-stress reduction and hence the near-fault acceleration that can occur during earthquakes, which affects the amount of damage that earthquakes are capable of causing. In particular, a long-unresolved problem is the apparently low strength of major faults, which may be caused by low coseismic frictional resistance. The frictional properties of rocks at slip velocities up to 3 mm s(-1) and for slip displacements characteristic of large earthquakes have been recently simulated under laboratory conditions. Here we report data on quartz rocks that indicate an extraordinary progressive decrease in frictional resistance with increasing slip velocity above 1 mm s(-1). This reduction extrapolates to zero friction at seismic slip rates of approximately 1 m s(-1), and appears to be due to the formation of a thin layer of silica gel on the fault surface: it may explain the low strength of major faults during earthquakes.     

Earthquake slip on oceanic transform faults

Oceanic transform faults are one of the main types of plate boundary, but the manner in which they slip remains poorly understood. Early studies suggested that relatively slow earthquake rupture might be common; moreover, it has been reported that very slow slip precedes some oceanic transform earthquakes, including the 1994 Romanche earthquake. The presence of such detectable precursors would have obvious implications for earthquake prediction. Here we model broadband seismograms of body waves to obtain well-resolved depths and rupture mechanisms for 14 earthquakes on the Romanche and Chain transform faults in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. We found that earthquakes on the longer Romanche transform are systematically deeper than those on the neighbouring Chain transform. These depths indicate that the maximum depth of brittle failure is at a temperature of approximately 600 degrees C in oceanic lithosphere. We find that the body waves from the Romanche 1994 earthquake can be well modelled with relatively deep slip on a single fault, and we use the mechanism and depth of this earthquake to recalculate its source spectrum. The previously reported slow precursor can be explained as an artefact of uncertainties in the assumed model parameters.     

Earthquakes as beacons of stress change

Aftershocks occurring on faults in the far-field of a large earthquake rupture can generally be accounted for by changes in static stress on these faults caused by the rupture. This implies that faults interact, and that the timing of an earthquake can be affected by previous nearby ruptures. Here we explore the potential of small earthquakes to act as 'beacons' for the mechanical state of the crust. We investigate the static-stress changes resulting from the 1992 Landers earthquake in southern California which occurred in an area of high seismic activity stemming from many faults. We first gauge the response of the regional seismicity to the Landers event with a new technique, and then apply the same method to the inverse problem of determining the slip distribution on the main rupture from the seismicity. Assuming justifiable parameters, we derive credible matches to slip profiles obtained directly from the Landers mainshock. Our results provide a way to monitor mechanical conditions in the upper crust, and to investigate processes leading to fault failure.     

维西‒乔后断裂通甸‒马登盆地段晚第四纪活动特征

依据野外调查成果, 研究维西?乔后断裂通甸?马登盆地段晚第四纪活动的地质地貌特征和古地震事件。结果表明, 该断裂段属于全新世活动段, 以右旋走滑运动为主, 全新世以来的水平滑动速率为1.8~2.4 mm/a, 垂直滑动速率为0.30~0.35 mm/a。 玉水坪探槽 揭示的断错地层OSL年龄为5.1±0.6, 5.3±0.2, 7.5±0.5和10.3±0.9 ka, 属于全新世堆积。下太平某小河T₂阶地上发育的多条断层断错现代土壤层之下的所有地层, 被错上部地层的OSL年龄为5.3±0.6 ka。上新世以来的断裂活动造成上新统的强烈构造变形, 其运动性质由逆冲转变为右旋走滑。新民村和盖场等探槽揭露地震楔、砂脉和软沉积构造变形等地震现象, 垂直错距多在1 m左右, 属同一期地震事件所为, 其发生时间约为28000 aBP, 震级达到7级。     

Experimental evidence for seismic nucleation phase

The friction experiments on macroscopically homogeneous and non-homogeneous faults were performed by using a double-shear friction rig, and the waveforms of acoustic emission and the fault slip corresponding to the stick-slip instability events were analyzed. The results indicate that there exist two types of nucleation phase for stick-slip instability of non-homogeneous faults, and one is coincident with the preslip model, the other with the cascade model. It is concluded that the seismic nucleation phase exists objectively, and its generation is related to heterogeneity of fault.``     

Three-dimensional deformation caused by the Bam, Iran, earthquake and the origin of shallow slip deficit

Our understanding of the earthquake process requires detailed insights into how the tectonic stresses are accumulated and released on seismogenic faults. We derive the full vector displacement field due to the Bam, Iran, earthquake of moment magnitude 6.5 using radar data from the Envisat satellite of the European Space Agency. Analysis of surface deformation indicates that most of the seismic moment release along the 20-km-long strike-slip rupture occurred at a shallow depth of 4-5 km, yet the rupture did not break the surface. The Bam event may therefore represent an end-member case of the 'shallow slip deficit' model, which postulates that coseismic slip in the uppermost crust is systematically less than that at seismogenic depths (4-10 km). The InSAR-derived surface displacement data from the Bam and other large shallow earthquakes suggest that the uppermost section of the seismogenic crust around young and developing faults may undergo a distributed failure in the interseismic period, thereby accumulating little elastic strain.     

跨断层铁路简支梁桥地震响应分析

为研究跨断层铁路桥梁的地震响应,基于MATLAB平台,引用公式及参数,合成地震动,然后将人工合成的跨断层地震动输入位移模型中,分别考虑跨断层的方向性效应和滑冲效应,在不同地震动方向作用下进行非线性时程分析。考虑不同设防水准,对桥梁结构内力、位移等进行跨断层地震响应分析,进而研究不同断层距下断层效应影响。结果表明,在顺桥向+竖桥向、横桥向+竖桥向地震作用下,随着断层距的增大,桥墩的内力、支座的变形和桥墩位移的变形都在减小;不同断层距对桥梁的内力、位移变形影响较大,当断层距大于50 km时,断层效应影响较小。     

Earthquake slip weakening and asperities explained by thermal pressurization

An earthquake occurs when a fault weakens during the early portion of its slip at a faster rate than the release of tectonic stress driving the fault motion. This slip weakening occurs over a critical distance, D(c). Understanding the controls on D(c) in nature is severely limited, however, because the physical mechanism of weakening is unconstrained. Conventional friction experiments, typically conducted at slow slip rates and small displacements, have obtained D(c) values that are orders of magnitude lower than values estimated from modelling seismological data for natural earthquakes. Here we present data on fluid transport properties of slip zone rocks and on the slip zone width in the centre of the Median Tectonic Line fault zone, Japan. We show that the discrepancy between laboratory and seismological results can be resolved if thermal pressurization of the pore fluid is the slip-weakening mechanism. Our analysis indicates that a planar fault segment with an impermeable and narrow slip zone will become very unstable during slip and is likely to be the site of a seismic asperity.     

Evidence for fault weakness and fluid flow within an active low-angle normal fault.

Determining the composition and physical properties of shallow-dipping, active normal faults (dips < 35 degrees with respect to the horizontal) is important for understanding how such faults slip under low resolved shear stress and accommodate significant extension of the crust and lithosphere. Seismic reflection images and earthquake source parameters show that a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred at about 5 km depth on or close to a normal fault with a dip of 25-30 degrees located ahead of a propagating spreading centre in the Woodlark basin. Here we present results from a genetic algorithm inversion of seismic reflection data, which shows that the fault at 4-5 km depth contains a 33-m-thick layer with seismic velocities of about 4.3 km s(-1), which we interpret to be composed of serpentinite fault gouge. Isolated zones exhibit velocities as low as approximately 1.7 km s(-1) with high porosities, which we suggest are maintained by high fluid pressures. We propose that hydrothermal fluid flow, possibly driven by a deep magmatic heat source, and high extensional stresses ahead of the ridge tip have created conditions for fault weakness and strain localization on the low-angle normal fault.     

Anisotropy of Earth's D' layer and stacking faults in the MgSiO3 post-perovskite phase

The post-perovskite phase of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 is believed to be the main mineral phase of the Earth's lowermost mantle (the D' layer). Its properties explain numerous geophysical observations associated with this layer-for example, the D' discontinuity, its topography and seismic anisotropy within the layer. Here we use a novel simulation technique, first-principles metadynamics, to identify a family of low-energy polytypic stacking-fault structures intermediate between the perovskite and post-perovskite phases. Metadynamics trajectories identify plane sliding involving the formation of stacking faults as the most favourable pathway for the phase transition, and as a likely mechanism for plastic deformation of perovskite and post-perovskite. In particular, the predicted slip planes are {010} for perovskite (consistent with experiment) and {110} for post-perovskite (in contrast to the previously expected {010} slip planes). Dominant slip planes define the lattice preferred orientation and elastic anisotropy of the texture. The {110} slip planes in post-perovskite require a much smaller degree of lattice preferred orientation to explain geophysical observations of shear-wave anisotropy in the D' layer.     

Predicting the endpoints of earthquake ruptures

The active fault traces on which earthquakes occur are generally not continuous, and are commonly composed of segments that are separated by discontinuities that appear as steps in map-view. Stress concentrations resulting from slip at such discontinuities may slow or stop rupture propagation and hence play a controlling role in limiting the length of earthquake rupture. Here I examine the mapped surface rupture traces of 22 historical strike-slip earthquakes with rupture lengths ranging between 10 and 420 km. I show that about two-thirds of the endpoints of strike-slip earthquake ruptures are associated with fault steps or the termini of active fault traces, and that there exists a limiting dimension of fault step (3-4 km) above which earthquake ruptures do not propagate and below which rupture propagation ceases only about 40 per cent of the time. The results are of practical importance to seismic hazard analysis where effort is spent attempting to place limits on the probable length of future earthquakes on mapped active faults. Physical insight to the dynamics of the earthquake rupture process is further gained with the observation that the limiting dimension appears to be largely independent of the earthquake rupture length. It follows that the magnitude of stress changes and the volume affected by those stress changes at the driving edge of laterally propagating ruptures are largely similar and invariable during the rupture process regardless of the distance an event has propagated or will propagate.     

伊通地堑构造样式及其油气分布规律

在对伊通地堑三维地震资料进行系统的构造解析的基础上 ,结合区域地质和钻井资料 ,对伊通地堑构造样式进行了详细的解剖 ,并简要分析了不同构造样式的油气分布规律 .结果表明 ,伊通地堑构造样式以“基底卷入型”为主 ,从盆地的动力学机制上属于“走滑 -拉分型”,进一步可概括为5个类型构造样式 ,分别是 :台阶式断块型、掀斜反转型、简单掀斜型、不对称双断型和伸展断块型 ,而且每一个断陷都以一种构造样式占主体 ,其展布具有明显的规律性 .构造样式的差异是造成不同断陷具有独特油气分布规律的主导因素     

塔北隆起中西部新近纪末构造应力场数值模拟

根据油田地震资料解释和构造分析,建立了新近纪末塔北隆起中西部平面与剖面地质模型,通过线弹性有限元方法的计算,得出该地区应力场模拟结果。构造应力场模拟结果表明,区域性南北向挤压应力控制了整个塔北隆起中西部新近纪末的构造应力场;研究区内牙哈断裂、轮台断裂、红旗断裂、英买7断裂在新近纪末为压扭性断裂,并具有左行走滑分量,喀拉玉尔滚断裂为右行走滑断裂,羊塔克断裂为纯压性逆冲构造;在区域挤压应力作用下,受主干断裂影响形成的局部构造应力场控制了局部次级构造类型的产生;从剖面应力场模拟结果来看,最大主应力方向在中央断隆区由水平变为倾斜,垂向应力分量变大,是导致压拱构造形成的主要因素。