The Lushan M S7.0 earthquake and activity of the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone

Following the Lushan M _S7.0 earthquake on 20 April 2013, a topic of much concern is whether events of M _S7 or greater could occur again on the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone. In providing evidence to answer this question, this work analyzes the tectonic relationship between the Lushan event and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the rupture history of the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone, through field investigations of active tectonics and paleoearthquake research, and our preliminary conclusions are as follows. The activity of the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone is much different to that of its central section, and the late Quaternary activity has propagated forward to the basin in the east. The seismogenic structure of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake is the central-fore-range fault system, whereas that of the 2013 Lushan event is attributed to the fore-range-range-front fault system, rather than the central fault. The southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone becomes wider towards the south with an increasing number of secondary faults, of which the individual faults exhibit much weaker surface activity. Therefore, this section is not as capable of generating a major earthquake as is the central segment. It is most likely that the 2013 earthquake fills the seismic gap around Lushan on the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone.     

Preliminary results pertaining to coseismic displacement and preseismic strain accumulation of the Lushan M S7.0 earthquake, as reflected by GPS surveying

This paper presents the coseismic displacement and preseismic deformation fields of the Lushan M _S7.0 earthquake that occurred on April 20, 2013. The results are based on GPS observations along the Longmenshan fault and within its vicinity. The coseismic displacement and preseismic GPS results indicate that in the strain release of this earthquake, the thrust rupture is dominant and the laevorotation movement is secondary. Furthermore, we infer that any possible the rupture does not reach the earth’s surface, and the seismogenic fault is most likely one fault to the east of the Guanxian-Anxian fault. Some detailed results are obtainable. (1) The southern segment of the Longmenshan fault is locked preceding the Lushan earthquake. After the Wenchuan earthquake, the strain accumulation rate in the southeast direction accelerates in the epicenter of the Lushan earthquake, and the angle between the principal compressional strain and the seismogenic fault indicates that a sinistral deformation background in the direction of the seismogenic fault precedes the Lushan earthquake. Therefore, it is evident that the Wenchuan M _S8.0 earthquake accelerated the pregnancy of the Lushan earthquake. (2) The coseismic displacements reflected by GPS data are mainly located in a region that is 230 km (NW direction) × 100 km (SW direction), and coseismic displacements larger than 10 mm lie predominantly in a 100-km region (NW direction). (3) On a large scale, the coseismic displacement shows thrust characteristics, but the associated values are remarkably small in the near field (within 70 km) of the earthquake fault. Meanwhile, the thrust movement in this 70-km region does not correspond with the attenuation characteristics of the strain release, indicating that the rupture of this earthquake does not reach the earth’s surface. (4) The laevorotation movements are remarkable in the 50-km region, which is located in the hanging wall that is close to the earthquake fault, and the corresponding values in this case correlate with the attenuation characteristics of the strain release.     

The spatial distribution pattern of landslides triggered by the 20 April 2013 Lushan earthquake of China and its implication to identification of the seismogenic fault

After the 20 April 2013 Lushan MS6.6 earthquake occurred,investigation and identification of the seismogenic fault for this event have become a focused and debatable issue.This work prepared an initial landslide inventory map related to the Lushan earthquake based on field investigations and visual interpretation of high-resolution aerial photographs and provided evidence for solving the issue aforementioned.The analysis of three landslide-density profiles perpendicular to strike direction of the probable seismogenic fault shows that many landslides occurred on the footwall of the Shuangshi–Dachuan fault(SDF),without sudden change of landslide density near the fault.Very few landslides were detected near the Dayi fault(DF)and also no change of landslide density there.While obvious sudden change of landslide density appeared about 1–2 km from the northwest to the western Shangli fault(WSF),and the landslide density on the hanging wall of the fault is obviously higher than that of on the footwall.Therefore,we infer that the seismogenic fault for the Lushan earthquake is neither the SDF nor the DF,rather probably the WSF located between these two faults,which is an evident linear trace on the earth surface.Meanwhile,the coseismic slip did not propagate upward to the ground,implying the Lushan earthquake was spawned by a blind-thrust-fault beneath the WSF.     

Deep structure beneath the southwestern section of the Longmenshan fault zone and seimogenetic context of the 4.20 Lushan M S7.0 earthquake

Magnetotelluric measurements were carried out along two profiles across the middle and southwestern sections of the Longmenshan fault zone (LMSf) from 2009 to 2011, after the 2008 Wenchuan M _W7.9 earthquake. The former profile crosses the Wenchuan event epicenter and the latter one crosses 2013 Lushan M _S7.0 event epicenter. The data were analyzed using advanced processing techniques, including phase tensor and two-dimensional inversion methods, in order to obtain reliable 2-D profiles of the electrical structure in the vicinity of the two earthquakes. A comparison of the two profiles indicates both similarities and differences in the deep crustal structure of the LMSf. West of the southwestern section, a crustal high conductivity layer (HCL) is present at about 10 km depth below the Songpan-Garzê block; this is about 10 km shallower than that under the middle section of the LMSf. A high resistivity body (HRB) is observed beneath the southwestern section, extending from the near surface to the top of upper mantle. It has a smaller size than the HRB observed below the middle section. In the middle section, there is a local area of decreased resistivity within the HRB but there is absence of this area. The 2013 Lushan earthquake occurred close to the eastern boundary of HRB and the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault, of which the seismogenic context has both common and different features in comparison with the 2008 Wenchuan event. On a large scale, the 2013 Lushan earthquake is associated with the HCL and deformation in the crust including HCL of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. In order to assess seismic risk, it is important to consider both the stress state and the detailed crustal structure in different parts of the LMSf.     

Relocation of the mainshock and aftershock sequences of M S7.0 Sichuan Lushan earthquake

The mainshock of April 20, 2013 Sichuan Lushan M _S7.0 earthquake was relocated using a 3-D velocity model. Double difference algorithm was applied to relocate aftershock sequences of Lushan earthquake. The locations of 2405 aftershocks were determined. The location errors in E-W, N-S and U-D direction were 0.30, 0.29 and 0.59 km on average, respectively. The location of the mainshock is 102.983°E, 30.291°N and the focal depth is 17.6 km. The relocation results show that the aftershocks spread approximately 35 km in length and 16 km in width. The dominant distribution of the focal depth ranges from 10 to 20 km. A few earthquakes occurred in the shallow crust. Focal depth profiles show fault planes dip to the northwest, manifested itself as a listric thrust fault. The dip angle is steep in the shallow crust and gentle in the deep crust. Although the epicenters of aftershocks distributed mainly along both sides of the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault, the seismogenic fault may be a blind thrust fault on the eastern side of the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault. Earthquake relocation results reveal that there is a southeastward tilt aftershock belt intersecting with the seismogenic fault with y-shape. We speculate it is a back thrust fault that often appears in a thrust fault system. Lushan earthquake triggered the seismic activity of the back thrust fault.     

5.12汶川大地震极震区灾害致因初析

 对5.12汶川大地震极震区进行的初步地震灾害地质调查结果表明：地震灾害沿断裂带呈带状密集分布,地震地表破裂带经过之处震灾最严重;地震次生地质灾害大量产生还与区内志留系茂县群千枚岩和三叠系须家河组砂岩夹页岩、煤层等软弱地层以及第四系松散层和强风化岩石等软弱岩体分布广泛、极震区大部分地区处于河谷深切、地形高差大、山体破碎的中-高山区有关。特大地震灾害再次提醒人们,在建筑场地选址中必须考虑活动断裂问题;城乡规划建设必须开展地质灾害风险评估和建筑物抗震设计;必须重视人-地关系和人-环境的关系。     

Source rupture process of Lushan M S7.0 earthquake, Sichuan, China and its tectonic implications

The source rupture process of the M _S7.0 Lushan earthquake was here evaluated using 40 long-period P waveforms with even azimuth coverage of stations. Results reveal that the rupture process of the Lushan M _S7.0 event to be simpler than that of the Wenchuan earthquake and also showed significant differences between the two rupture processes. The whole rupture process lasted 36 s and most of the moment was released within the first 13 s. The total released moment is 1.9×10¹⁹N m with M _W=6.8. Rupture propagated upwards and bilaterally to both sides from the initial point, resulting in a large slip region of 40 km×30 km, with the maximum slip of 1.8 m, located above the initial point. No surface displacement was estimated around the epicenter, but displacement was observed about 20 km NE and SW directions of the epicenter. Both showed slips of less than 40 cm. The rupture suddenly stopped at 20 km NE of the initial point. This was consistent with the aftershock activity. This phenomenon indicates the existence of significant variation of the medium or tectonic structure, which may prevent the propagation of the rupture and aftershock activity. The earthquake risk of the left segment of Qianshan fault is worthy of attention.     

Lushan M S7.0 earthquake: A special earthquake occurs on curved fault

Relocation result shows that the aftershocks of the Lushan M _S7.0 earthquake spatially distribute in a shape like “half bowl”, indicating that the rupture structure of the mainshock is a highly curved surface. Kinematic analysis reveals that a laterally varied dislocation pattern occurs on this curved fault even though a single relative horizontal movement controls slip on this fault. Reverse slip prevails on curved fault. However, significant normal slip is predicted near the edge of north flank. Moreover, the north flank features left-lateral slip while the south flank contrarily features right-lateral slip. The relative scope of aftershock distribution implies inadequate breaking of the curved fault during the mainshock, calling for the attention to potential earthquake risk on the neighboring portions of the coseismic rupture due to significant increase of the coseismic Coulomb stress. Coseismic stress modeling also reveals that it is unnecessary for the stress on ruptured part to be unloaded following the earthquakes on the curved fault. The coseismic stress loading on ruptured elements unveils the specialty of faulting for the Lushan earthquake and we conclude that this specialty is due to the highly curved fault geometry.     

四川芦山Ms 7.0级地震前卫星线性云异常现象

 对四川芦山地震前1个月内的FY-2卫星云图与红外亮温数据分析发现,震前3d即4月17日的06:30—09:30,在青藏高原东部出现延展达数百千米的两条线性云,两者延伸交叉处正是芦山地震的震中位置。通过与汶川Ms 8.0级地震前数小时出现的线性云异常进行比较,认为龙门山断裂带强震前屡次出现的“无中生有”线性云异常现象,可能与青藏高原东部地下未知的隐伏构造及油气赋存有关,具有一定的临震指示性,应该作为该地区地震遥感监测的重点。今后,在全球综合地球观测系统(GEOSS)大数据的支持下,考虑孕震过程中的地球系统多圈层作用与耦合效应,将开展遥感多参数异常时空特征及其关联性分析,为解开该地区的线性云异常之谜提供科学依据。     

九寨沟Ms 7.0级地震的左旋走滑作用与动力机制

2017年8月8日四川九寨沟发生的Ms 7.0级地震是继2008年汶川Ms 8.0地震、2013年芦山Ms 7.0级地震后在青藏高原东缘发生的又一次强震。本文通过综合分析九寨沟Ms 7.0级地震及历史地震的震源机制解、余震和历史地震分布、区域应力场、活动断层等资料,来揭示九寨沟地震的发震构造与动力机制。初步研究结果表明:(1)此次地震的震中位于塔藏断裂、岷江断裂和虎牙断裂之间的交汇区,显示活动断裂的交汇区对此次地震的发生具有控制作用;(2)发震断裂为虎牙断裂,断裂走向为北西西向,倾向南西,倾角较陡,属于高倾角左旋走滑型地震;(3)震中位于虎牙断裂北段的北部地震空区,充填了1973年和1976年4次大于Mw6.0级地震空区;(4)此次地震位于2008年汶川Ms 8.0级地震的库仑应力增加区,应是汶川地震的应力传递和触发的结果;(5)此次地震位于巴颜喀拉块体的东北部顶角区,青藏高原东缘下地壳流向北东方向的挤出是驱动此次地震的动力机制。     

Interseismic and coseismic displacements of the Lushan Ms 7.0 earthquake inferred from leveling measurements

By using precise leveling data observed between 1985 and 2010 across the south section of the Longmenshan fault zone, and eliminating the coseismic displacements caused by the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake, the interseismic vertical deformation field was obtained. The result shows that the Lushan region, located between the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault （front range of the Long- menshan fault） and the Xinkaidian fault （south section of the Dayi fault）, is situated in the intersection zone of positive and negative vertical deformation gradient zones, indicating that this zone was locked within 25 years before the Lushan earthquake. Based on leveling data across the rupture zone surveyed between 2010 and 2013, and by eliminating the vertical deformation within 3 years before the earthquake, the coseismic vertical displacement was derived. The coseismic vertical displacement for the benchmark DD35, which is closest to the epicenter, is up to 198.4 mm （with respect to MY165A）. The coseismic dis- placement field revealed that the northwest region （hanging wall） moved upwards in comparison with the southeastern region （foot wall）, suggesting that the seismogenic fault mainly underwent thrust faulting. By comparing the coseismic and interseismic vertical deformation fields, it was found that the mechanisms of this earthquake are consistent with the elastic rebound theory; the elastic strain energy （displacement deficit） accumulated before the Lu- shan earthquake was released during this quake.     

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.     

活动断层分段研究

地震发生在活动断层上,而断层活动不一定都发震,为进行地震危险性分析,确定未来可能发生地震的地段和强度。因此,把活动断层分成地震破裂段进行研究,分析断层活动在时间上、空间上的不均匀性,了解破裂段特征和分段标志,确定破坏性地震发震的构造条件是极为重要的。     

四川芦山Ms 7.0级地震导致周边断层的应力变化

 2013年4月20日,四川雅安市芦山县发生M_s 7.0级强烈地震,造成重大的人员伤亡和经济损失。地震造成的区域库仑应力变化、对周围断层的影响及后续地震带发展趋势是应该关注的问题。利用USGS震源机制解,根据地震静态触发原理,基于弹性位错理论和分层地壳模型,计算得出芦山地震引起同震库仑应力变化从断层的1.0MPa量级减小到200km外的0.1kPa,研究认为在地震之后大部分区域的应力得到释放,鲜水河断裂道孚—康定段和玉龙希断裂南段危险性增加。     

相关向量机在地震滑坡敏感性分析中的应用

 地震滑坡敏感性分析是地震次生灾害研究的重点内容之一。数据量大且致灾因素复杂是研究地震滑坡问题的难点。在对已有敏感性分析模型研究的基础上,以芦山地震为例,选取地面高程、坡度、坡向、地层、斜坡形态、斜坡结构、距断层平均距离、距水系平均距离、地震峰值加速度9个地震滑坡评价因子,建立基于遗传算法的相关向量机（GA-RVM）敏感性分析模型,生成地震滑坡敏感性区划图,统计结果显示滑坡正确率为99.74%,滑坡密度在极高敏感区达到27.4057个/km²。结果表明,相对于基于遗传算法的支持向量机,GA-RVM获得了更高的预测精度,可为进一步完成地震灾害预防提供依据。     

Longling-Lancang fault zone in southwest Yunnan, China

The Longling-Lancang fault zone, consisting of sets of en echelon or clustered faults, is a newly-generated rupture zone. It is characterized by the distribution of active faults, earthquake faults and earthquakes in zones. Formed in the Early-Middle Pleistocene, still active in the late, it moves dextrally and extensionally. It tends to cut off the locked segments and discontinuous segments at first, then pervades totally along the zone, accompanied by strong earthquakes.     

Longling-Lancang fault zone in southwest Yunnan, China——A newly-generated rupture zone in Continental crust

The Longling-Lancang fault zone, consisting of sets of en echelon or clustered faults, is a newly-generated rupture zone. It is characterized by the distribution of active faults, earthquake faults and earthquakes in zones. Formed in the Early-Middle Pleistocene, still active in the late, it moves dextrally and extensionally. It tends to cut off the locked segments and discontinuous segments at first, then pervades totally along the zone, accompanied by strong earthquakes.     

The M S7.1 Yushu earthquake surface rupture and large historical earthquakes on the Garzê-Yushu Fault

As revealed by field investigations, the co-seismic surface rupture zone of the 2010 M_S7.1 Yushu earthquake, Qinghai is a char-acteristic sinistral strike-slip feature consisting of three distinct sinistral primary ruptures, with an overall strike of 310°–320° and a total length of 31 km. In addition, an approximately 2-km-long en-echelon tensile fissure zone was found east of Longbao Town; if this site is taken as the north end of the rupture zone, then the rupture had a total length of ~51 km. The surface rupture zone is composed of a series of fissures arranged in an en-echelon or alternating relationship between compressive bulges and tensile fissures, with a measured maximum horizontal displacement of 1.8 m. The surface rupture zone extends along the mapped Garzê-Yushu Fault, which implicates it as the seismogenic fault for this earthquake. Historically, a few earthquakes with a magnitude of about 7 have occurred along the fault, and additionally traces of paleoearthquakes are evident that characterize the short-period recurrence interval of large earthquakes here. Similar to the seismogenic process of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the Yushu earthquake is also due to the stress accumulation and release on the block boundaries resulting from the eastward expansion of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, in contrast with the Wenchuan earthquake, the Yushu earthquake had a sinistral strike-slip mechanism resulting from the uneven eastward extrusion of the Baryan Har and Sichuan-Yunnan fault blocks.     

Some thoughts on seismotectonics of major earthquake occurrence zones in China

A major earthquake occurrence zone means a place where M≥6 events have occurred since the Holocene and similar shocks may happen again in the future. The dynamic context of the major earthquake occurrence zones in China is primarily associated with the NNE-directed push of the India plate,next with the westward subduction of the Pacific plate. The Chinese mainland is a grand mosaic structure of many crust blocks bounded by faults and sutures. When it is suffered from boundary stresses,deformation takes place along these faults or sutures while the block interiors remain relatively stable or intact. Since the Quaternary,for example,left slip on the Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang fault zone in southwestern China has produced a number of fault-depression basins in extensional areas during periods Q1 and Q2. In the Q3,the change of stress orientation and enhancement of tectonic movement made faults of varied trends link each other,and continued to be active till present day,producing active fault zones in this region. Usually major earthquakes occur at some special locations on these active fault zones. During these events,in the epicenter areas experience intensive deformation characterized by large-amplitude rise and fall of neighboring sections,generation of horst-graben systems and dammed rivers. The studies on palaeoearthquakes suggest that major shocks of close magnitudes often repeated for several times at a same place. By comparison of the Chi-Chi,Taiwan event in 1999 and Yuza,Yunnan event in 1955,including contours of accelerations and intensities,destruction of buildings,and in contrast to the Xigeda formation in southwestern China,a sandwich model is established to account for the mechanism of deformation caused by major earthquakes. This model consists of three layers,i. e. the two walls of a fault and the ruptured zone intercalated between them. This ruptured zone is just the loci where stress is built up and released,and serves as a channel for seismic waves.     

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.