Variation of b value with hypocentral depth in Beijing area： Implications for earthquake nucleation

We relocated 2098 earthquakes that occurred in Beijing area between 1980 and 2000 using a double-difference (DD) earthquake location algorithm, and obtained the high-precision relative locations of 1825 events, b values versus depth were investigated with the relocated hypocenters. The results show that the b values decrease with the increasing hypocentral depth systematically. A dramatic variation in b is observed around the depth of 8 km. It indicates that there are more smaller earthquakes at shallow depth (0-8 km), while more larger earthquakes at greater depth (8--25 km). The physical mechanism behind this phenomenon can be explained by the variations in material heterogeneity and lithostatic stress condition. Large earthquakes are more likely to nucleate at greater depth with more homogenous material and higher lithostatic stress. On the basis of the results, we suggest that future strong earthquakes in Beijing area tend to occur below the depth of 8 km.     

Study on seismogenesis of the 1997 Jiashi earthquake swarm, western China

The 1997 Jiashi swarm earthquakes are relocated using the master event method improved by the authors. From the relocated hypocenters and focal mechanisms of the earthquakes, it is inferred that a pair of echelon faults, striking in northern north-west direction, right-step allocated and right-laterally moved, may exist in the earthquake swarm region. The composite focal mechanism obtained by analyzing the data of 2177 P-wave first motion polarities indicates that both mean P- and T-axis are horizontal, orienting in N19°E and N110°E respectively, and the mean B-axis is nearly vertical. The co-seismic deformation caused by this earthquake swarm is compressive nearly in North-South and extensional nearly in East-West. Obviously low earthquake stress drops are found via analyzing the source spectra of the swarm earthquakes, which may be one of the main reasons why the Jiashi earthquake swarm has lasted for a long period of time. The interaction between discontinuous segments of the echelon fault has been discussed. The result indicates that the stress drop is usually low for the earthquakes occurring on the right step echelon faults.     

Seismicity characteristics of the 2011 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>9.0 Tohoku earthquake near the East Coast of Honshu in Japan

The spatiotemporal evolution of the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake sequence off the East Coast of Honshu in Japan on March 11,2011 and precursive seismic activity near the Japan Trench show that the earthquake sequence has foreshock-main shock-aftershock characteristics.Its foreshock sequence is characterized by a concentrated spatial distribution,low b value and the same focal mechanisms.Half an hour after the main shock,the two greatest aftershocks,with magnitudes of M7.9 and M7.7,occurred,followed by a rapid reduction in the strength of events.The aftershock activity was enhanced roughly two weeks and one month after the main event.This great earthquake ruptured bilaterally.Five hours after the main shock,the aftershock zone extended over a range that was 500 km in length and 300 km in width.A day later,the long axis of the aftershock area had expanded to about 600 km.Nine years prior to the 2011 earthquake,the seismicity in the location of the seismic source for this event enhanced significantly,with the extent of this area of enhanced seismicity being roughly equivalent to the aftershock zone.     

Effect of the free surface on the earthquake energy: A case study of reverse faulting

Based on the representation theorem of seismic energy radiation, in this study, we have quantitatively investigated the effect of free surface on the radiation energy distribution due to a coupling interaction between free surface and near surface finite fault for the reverse earthquake faulting. Corresponding to the finite faulting, a 2-D pseudostatic-reverse-fault-dislocation solution has been used in the calculation of the work done by the seismic response against free surface. The results indicate that, due to a strong coupling interaction between the free surface and near surface fault, the total radiated seismic energy ER is much larger than that radiated only from the fault itself （EF）, especially for the shallow reverse faulting. In convention, EF is commonly used in the estimation of earthquake energy radiation. However, when the fault depth H, the distance between the free surface and top of fault location, increases, the effect of the coupling interaction between the fault and free surface decreases gradually. Therefore, the total radiated energy ER approaches to the EF when the depth H is about 2 times the fault length L The current study could provide us a partial explanation of the apparent stress discrepancy observed at the far field and near field in the recent large earthquake. Moreover, the current study also has a significant implication of how to quantitatively describe the near fault strong ground motion and associated seismic hazard from the earthquake source energy point of view.     

Characteristics of the crustal structure and hypocentral tectonics in the epicentral area of Nan’ao earthquake (M7.5), the northeastern South China Sea

1918 Nan’ao earthquake (M7.5) occurred in the northeast coastal areas of Guangdong Province. With the seismogeological survey of the epicentral area and history materials analyses, the earthquake epicenter was estimated to locate in the intersection part of the Binhai fault zone (Littoral) and Huanggangshui fault, which strikes NEE and NW, respectively. The activities of the NEE-striking thrust fault and NW-striking extensional fault that were attributed to 1918 Nan’ao earthquake occurred in the Dongshan Island of the epicentral area; they reflected the focal stress field with compression in NW-SE direction and extension in NE-SW direction. The isoseismal contour of seismic intensity X shows a shape of ‘X’ composed of two mutually overlapping ellipses with two axes striking NEE and NW, respectively, and such shape implies that the occurrence of this earthquake is controlled by a pair of conjugate seismotectonic faults constituted by the NEE-striking Binhai fault zone and the NW-striking Huanggangshui fault. The Binhai fault zone is a dominant seismogenic structure, and the NW-striking Huanggangshui fault is the subdominant one. The onshoreoffshore deep seismic profile that crossed the epicentral area and was perpendicular to the strike of the Binhai fault zone was obtained. According to the analyses of the seismic data, the Binhai fault zone is defined as a low velocity zone with SE dip-slip in thecrustal structure section. The Binhai fault zone is a boundary fault between the South China subplate and South China Sea subplate. The crust structure on the northwest side of Binhai fault zone is a normal continental crust with a thickness of 30 km, and the one on the southeast side of the fault zone is a thinning continental crust with a thickness of 25―28 km. The Binhai fault zone is an important seismogenic fault and also is an earthquake-controlling fault. The intersection part between the Binhai fault zone and the low velocity zone of upper crust is advantageous to stress concentration and strain energy accumulation, and presents the deep dynamic conditions for the earthquake’s pregnancy and occurrence.     

Focal depth research of earthquakes in Mainland China: Implication for tectonics

Focal depth data of earthquakes in Mainland China are processed and analyzed in this paper, as well as the relationship between the focal depths and large-scale tectonic structures. As a basic parameter for earthquakes, focal depth is used to investigate deep environment of seismogenic regions, tectonic backgrounds for concentration and release of seismic energy, the inner crustal deformation and its mechanic features. Depth data of 31282 ML≥2.0 events with 1st class and 2nd class precision in Mainland China from Jan. 1, 1970 to May 31, 2000 are used to get spatial features of earthquakes distributed with depth and to provide average depth for each grid area throughout China. Researches show that the average depth (D-) for all the earthquakes used in this paper is (16±7) km, and (13±6) km and (18±8) km for the events in eastern China and western China, respectively. The area with the deepest focal depth is located in southwest Xinjiang region, near the western and southwestern ends of the Tarim Basin. The focal depth related to large-scale tectonic structures, for instance, = (33±12), (21±10), (14±7), (11±5) and (10±4) km in Tibet plateau block, Xinjiang block, North China, Northeastern China and South China, respectively. The earthquakes are deeper at the bounders of the integrated tectonic blocks, including the southwestern and northern brims of the Tarim Basin, southern brim of the Zhunge'r Basin and that of the Alashan block, as well as the eastern and western sides of the Edos block and the western brim of the Sichuan Basin. The earthquakes at the newly ruptured belts are relatively shallower, for instance, at the southwestern Yunnan seismic belt and the Zhangjiakou-Bohai seismic belt. The mechanic behavior, deformation and features for the crust and mantle structures are also discussed.     

Fine three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure beneath the capital region and deep environment for the nucleation of strong earthquakes

A detailed 3-D P-wave velocity model of the crust and uppermost mantle under the capitol region is determined with a spatial resolution of 25 km in the horizontal direction and 4-17 km in depth. We used 48750 precise P-wave arrival time data from 2973 events of local crustal earthquakes, controlled seismic explosions and quarry blasts. These events were recorded by 123 seismic stations. The data are analyzed by using a 3-D seismic tomography method. Our tomographic model provides new information on the geological structure and complex seismotectonics of this region. Different patterns of velocity structures show up in the North China Basin, the Taihangshan and the Yanshan Mountainous areas. The velocity images of the upper crust reflect well the surface geological, topographic and lithological features. In the North China Basin, the depression and uplift areas are imaged as slow and fast velocity belts, respectively, which are oriented in NE-SW direction. The trend of velocity anomalies is the same as that of major structure and tectonics. Paleozoic strata and Pre-Cambrian basement rocks outcrop widely in the Taihangshan and Yanshan uplift areas, which exhibit strong and broad high-velocity anomalies in our tomographic images, while the Quaternary intermountain basins show up as small low-velocity anomalies. Most of large earthquakes, such as the 1976 Tangshan earthquake (M 7.8) and the 1679 Sanhe earthquake (M 8.0), generally occurred in high-velocity areas in the upper to middle crust. However, in the lower crust to the uppermost mantle under the source zones of the large earthquakes, low-velocity and high-conductivity anomalies exist, which are considered to be associated with fluids, just like the 1995 Kobe earthquake (M 7.2) and the 2001 Indian Bhuj earthquake (M 7.8). The fluids in the lower crust may cause the weakening of the seismogenic layer in the upper and middle crust and thus contribute to the initiation of the large crustal earthquakes.     

Focal mechanism analysis and parameter estimation of Zhangbei-Shangyi earthquake from differential SAR interferometry

On 10 January, 1998 an earthquake of Ms=6.2occurred in the Zhangbei-Shangyi region of North China.The surface seismic deformation was measured in the previous study using the 3 pass ERS-1/2 SAR differential interferometric technology (D-INSAR). In this note the focal mechanism of Zhangbei-Shangyi earthquake is estimated from the D-INSAR measurement of surface deformation based on a standard elastic dislocation model for seismic displacement. The inversion procedure is an iterative, linear least-squares algorithm. Through the relation between the focal parameters and displacement in the line of sight direction measured in the radar interferogram, the optimum focal parameter set is derived. The results show that the seismic fault of Zhangbei-Shangyi earthquake is a thrust fault dipping SW with a large right-lateral displacement component.The strike and dip are 95° and 30° respectively on a fault patch of 12 km long by 14 km wide. Its hypocenter is located at N40°58', E114°21', and 7.5 km in depth. The estimated slip vector is 0.728 m with a rake of 105.95°, the trend of slip is NW13.26°, and M0is 2.69×1018 N @ m.     

Three-Gorges Reservoir Area on the Yangtze River Faced with Risk of Induced Destructive Earthquakes

The Three-Gorge Water Conservancy Project on the Yangtze River started to impound water by locking gates on June１,２００３．A swarm of more than２０００small earthquakes suddenly occurred densely along the river section in Xinling Town north of Badong,Hubei Province,on June７．This caused grave concern in the following years,but,with the completion of the second- and third-phase engineering construction,the water level in the reservoir will rise up to１５６m and１７５m respectively,no matter whether it can induce larger and stronger earthquakes．After an analysis of the distribution of active faults in the eastern part of the reservoir area,their intersections and capability to generate earthquakes from a seismo-tectonic viewpoint,we consider that after the reservoir impounding,two potential focal zones existing in Badong and Zigui counties may generate M５.５earthquake,the seismic intensity of which may reachⅧ．It will induce landslide bodies in the reservoir area to be reactivated and slide．The evidence is the large-scale landslide occurring on the Shazhenxi Creek river in Zigui County on June１２,２００３．     

Three-Gorges Reservoir Area on the Yangtze River Faced with Risk of Induced Destructive Earthquakes

The Three-Gorge Water Conservancy Project on the Yangtze River started to impound water by locking gates on June 1, 2003. A swarm of more than 2000 small earthquakes suddenly occurred densely along the river section in Xinling Town north of Badong, Hubei Province, on June 7. This caused grave concern in the following years, but, with the completion of the second- and third-phase engineering construction, the water level in the reservoir will rise up to 156 m and 175 m respectively, no matter whether it can induce larger and stronger earthquakes. After an analysis of the distribution of active faults in the eastern part of the reservoir area, their intersections and capability to generate earthquakes from a seismo-tectonic viewpoint, we consider that after the reservoir impounding, two potential focal zones existing in Badong and Zigui counties may generate M 5.5 earthquake, the seismic intensity of which may reach Ⅷ. It will induce landslide bodies in the reservoir area to be reactivated and slide. The evidence is the large-scale landslide occurring on the Shazhenxi Creek river in Zigui County on June 12, 2003.     

地震作用下黄土暗穴的稳定性

黄土高原地区发育的黄土暗穴是一种特殊的不良地质现象,已经成为西部黄土地区公路损坏的主要原因。黄土具有很高的地震易损性,对于暗穴较高发育区的西安—兰州一带,受地震影响比较大。在深入研究黄土暗穴发育特点的基础上,采用有限元法对其在地震力作用下的致塌机理进行了数值模拟,得出了不同洞径及埋深的暗穴在地震荷载作用下的动力响应规律。研究结果表明:地震发生时,往往会引起暗穴顶板的塌落,这种现象并非洞壁土体材料的屈服渐次发展所致,而是由突发性的暗穴结构稳定性丧失引起的。     

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.     

西藏林芝6.9级地震崩塌地质灾害模式浅析

2017年11月18日,西藏林芝米林县发生M_s6.9级地震,震源深度10 km。为了揭示林芝6.9级地震触发的地质灾害特征,通过现场野外实地调查和卫星遥感解译得出:林芝6.9级地震触发的地震地质灾害以小型崩塌为主,分为土质崩塌和岩质崩塌,土质崩塌模式主要有浅表层崩塌,堆积体中的块石、孤石等震动滚落崩塌;岩质崩塌模式有:拉裂-倾倒崩塌、震动-滑移崩塌、震动-坠落式崩塌;林芝地震触发的地质灾害主要受地形地貌,地层岩性组合,人类工程建设活动影响;具有明显的地形放大效应,崩塌源主要分布在山体斜坡的凸出部位和坡性转折部位以及单薄山脊等强卸荷部位。     

Lushan M S7.0 earthquake: A blind reserve-fault event

In the epicenter of the Lushan M _S7.0 earthquake there are several imbricate active reverse faults lying from northwest to southeast, namely the Gengda-Longdong, Yanjing-Wulong, Shuangshi-Dachuan and Dayi faults. Emergency field investigations have indicated that no apparent earthquake surface rupture zones were located along these active faults or their adjacent areas. Only brittle compressive ruptures in the cement-covered pavements can be seen in Shuangshi, Taiping, Longxing and Longmen Townships, and these ruptures show that a local crustal shortening occurred in the region during the earthquake. Combining spatial distribution of the relocated aftershocks and focal mechanism solutions, it is inferred that the Lushan earthquake is classified as a typical blind reverse-fault earthquake, and it is advised that the relevant departments should pay great attention to other historically un-ruptured segments along the Longmenshan thrust belt and throughout its adjacent areas.     

珠江三角洲场地震害分析与评判

通过对珠江三角洲地区活动断裂、砂土液化、软土震陷、塌陷地震、滑坡、崩塌和孤立地形和不均匀地基等场地震害分析,预测了珠江三角洲地区未来场地震害的主要形式是砂土液化和软土震陷,同时不可忽视其他震害的影响.利用砂土、软粘土层大量吸收地震能量来防止强震中建筑物的倒塌和破坏将成为场地震害分析的一个新趋势.     

Particle size and energetics of gouge from earthquake rupture zones

Grain size reduction and gouge formation are found to be ubiquitous in brittle faults at all scales, and most slip along mature faults is observed to have been localized within gouge zones. This fine-grain gouge is thought to control earthquake instability, and thus understanding its properties is central to an understanding of the earthquake process. Here we show that gouge from the San Andreas fault, California, with approximately 160 km slip, and the rupture zone of a recent earthquake in a South African mine with only approximately 0.4 m slip, display similar characteristics, in that ultrafine grains approach the nanometre scale, gouge surface areas approach 80 m2 g(-1), and grain size distribution is non-fractal. These observations challenge the common perception that gouge texture is fractal and that gouge surface energy is a negligible contributor to the earthquake energy budget. We propose that the observed fine-grain gouge is not related to quasi-static cumulative slip, but is instead formed by dynamic rock pulverization during the propagation of a single earthquake.     

震级与破裂尺度及位错量关系的讨论

目的探讨现有的一些震级与地表破裂长度及水平位错量间经验关系式的合理性与代表性。方法基于断裂力学理论,通过对各类裂纹开裂过程中应变能释放量与裂纹尺寸、水平位错量间相互关系的分析,讨论前人建立的一些关于震级与地表破裂长度及位错量间的经验关系。结果震级与破裂带长度或水平错动量之间的统计关系式在理论上具有合理性;以青藏高原强震事件参数为基本统计数据,构建了震级、破裂长度与垂直位错的统计关系式,并利用所得关系式用中卫712级地震为例验算,与实际结果相近。结论可以将震级与破裂带长度、错动量等参数通过统计方法建立起某种关系式,但所选用参数以及参数之间的基本关系应当符合断裂力学的一些基本理论及关系原则。