Donald V. Helmberger

The 2011 Magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake: Mosaicking the Megathrust from Seconds to Centuries

Detailed geophysical measurements reveal features of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake. Geophysical observations from the 2011 moment magnitude (Mw) 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake allow exploration of a rare large event along a subduction megathrust. Models for this event indicate that the distribution of coseismic fault slip exceeded 50 meters in places. Sources of high-frequency seismic waves delineate the edges of the deepest portions of coseismic slip and do not simply correlate with the locations of peak slip. Relative to the Mw 8.8 2010 Maule, Chile earthquake, the Tohoku-Oki earthquake was deficient in high-frequency seismic radiation—a difference that we attribute to its relatively shallow depth. Estimates of total fault slip and surface secular strain accumulation on millennial time scales suggest the need to consider the potential for a future large earthquake just south of this event.

Source Description of the 1999 Hector Mine, California, Earthquake, Part I: Wavelet Domain Inversion Theory and Resolution Analysis

We present a new procedure for the determination of rupture complexity from a joint inversion of static and seismic data. Our fault parameterization involves multiple fault segments, variable local slip, rake angle, rise time, and rupture velocity. To separate the spatial and temporal slip history, we introduce a wavelet transform that proves effective at studying the time and frequency characteristics of the seismic waveforms. Both data and synthetic seismograms are transformed into wavelets, which are then separated into several groups based on their frequency content. For each group, we use error functions to compare the wavelet amplitude variation with time between data and synthetic seismograms. The function can be an L1 + L2 norm or a correlative function based on the amplitude and scale of wavelet functions. The objective function is defined as the weighted sum of these functions. Subsequently, we developed a finite-fault inversion routine in the wavelet domain. A simulated annealing algorithm is used to determine the finite-fault model that minimizes the objective function described in terms of wavelet coefficients. With this approach, we can simultaneously invert for the slip amplitude, slip direction, rise time, and rupture velocity efficiently. Extensive experiments conducted on synthetic data are used to assess the ability to recover rupture slip details. We, also explore slip-model stability for different choices of layered Earth models assuming the geometry encountered in the 1999 Hector Mine, California, earthquake.

Determination of source parameters at regional distances with three-component sparse network data

We find remarkable similarities between regional body waves recorded by the TERRAscope network of broadband stations and synthetics constructed from a standard southern California velocity model. This model is shown to be effective for a variety of azimuths and ranges throughout southern California. At short periods some of the relative timing of the body waves are discordant, but at longer periods this becomes less of a factor. Thus we have developed a waveform inversion technique to rapidly determine source parameters using stored Greens functions for events out to 500 km, well outside the TERRAscope network. Often, only the three-component records of a single station are required because the ratio of SV to SH energy is dependent upon source orientation. Sensitivity analyses examining the effects of source mislocations and velocity model on the inversion results show that the long-period body waves appear relatively insensitive to lateral mislocations but are sensitive to source depth. However, the choice of velocity model can be a factor in obtaining reliable estimates of source depth. In this study the October 24, 1990, (Mw = 5.2) Lee Vining and the December 3, 1991, (Mw = 5.1) Baja California events are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the inversion method. For the Baja event, we obtained unique results using a single station. For the Lee Vining event, inversions using a single station were not as stable. However, we found that using two stations with only a 24° aperture provided enough constraint to obtain unique results.

Partial rupture of a locked patch of the Sumatra megathrust during the 2007 earthquake sequence

The great Sumatra–Andaman earthquake and tsunami of 2004 was a dramatic reminder of the importance of understanding the seismic and tsunami hazards of subduction zones. In March 2005, the Sunda megathrust ruptured again, producing an event of moment magnitude (Mw) 8.6 south of the 2004 rupture area, which was the site of a similar event in 1861 (ref. 6). Concern was then focused on the Mentawai area, where large earthquakes had occurred in 1797 (Mw = 8.8) and 1833 (Mw = 9.0). Two earthquakes, one of Mw = 8.4 and, twelve hours later, one of Mw = 7.9, indeed occurred there on 12 September 2007. Here we show that these earthquakes ruptured only a fraction of the area ruptured in 1833 and consist of distinct asperities within a patch of the megathrust that had remained locked in the interseismic period. This indicates that the same portion of a megathrust can rupture in different patterns depending on whether asperities break as isolated seismic events or cooperate to produce a larger rupture. This variability probably arises from the influence of non-permanent barriers, zones with locally lower pre-stress due to the past earthquakes. The stress state of the portion of the Sunda megathrust that had ruptured in 1833 and 1797 was probably not adequate for the development of a single large rupture in 2007. The moment released in 2007 amounts to only a fraction both of that released in 1833 and of the deficit of moment that had accumulated as a result of interseismic strain since 1833. The potential for a large megathrust event in the Mentawai area thus remains large.

Low-velocity zone atop the 410-km seismic discontinuity in the northwestern United States

The seismic discontinuity at 410 km depth in the Earths mantle is generally attributed to the phase transition of (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 (refs 1, 2) from the olivine to wadsleyite structure. Variation in the depth of this discontinuity is often taken as a proxy for mantle temperature owing to its response to thermal perturbations. For example, a cold anomaly would elevate the 410-km discontinuity, because of its positive Clapeyron slope, whereas a warm anomaly would depress the discontinuity. But trade-offs between seismic wave-speed heterogeneity and discontinuity topography often inhibit detailed analysis of these discontinuities, and structure often appears very complicated. Here we simultaneously model seismic refracted waves and scattered waves from the 410-km discontinuity in the western United States to constrain structure in the region. We find a low-velocity zone, with a shear-wave velocity drop of 5%, on top of the 410-km discontinuity beneath the northwestern United States, extending from southwestern Oregon to the northern Basin and Range province. This low-velocity zone has a thickness that varies from 20 to 90 km with rapid lateral variations. Its spatial extent coincides with both an anomalous composition of overlying volcanism and seismic ‘receiver-function’ observations observed above the region. We interpret the low-velocity zone as a compositional anomaly, possibly due to a dense partial-melt layer, which may be linked to prior subduction of the Farallon plate and back-arc extension. The existence of such a layer could be indicative of high water content in the Earths transition zone.

Seismic detection of a thin laterally varying boundary layer at the base of the mantle beneath the central-Pacific

We explore lowermost mantle structure beneath the Pacific with long‐period recordings of the seismic core phases SKS, SP_dKS, and SKKS from 25 deep earthquakes. SP_dKS and SKKS are anomalously delayed relative to SKS for lower mantle paths beneath the southwest Pacific. Late SP_dKS arrivals are explained by a laterally varying mantle‐side boundary layer at the CMB, having P‐velocity reductions of up to 10% and thickness up to 40 km. This layer is detected beneath a tomographically resolved large‐scale low velocity feature in the lower mantle beneath the central‐Pacific. SKS, SP_dKS, and SKKS data for the generally faster‐than‐average circum‐Pacific lower mantle are well‐fit by models lacking any such low‐velocity boundary layer. The slow boundary layer beneath the central Pacific may be a localized zone of partial melt, or perhaps a chemically distinct layer, with its location linked to overlying upwelling motions.

Subducting slab ultra-slow velocity layer coincident with silent earthquakes in southern Mexico.

Seismic mapping suggests that silent earthquakes may be related to an ultralow velocity layer on top of a subducting slab. Hot Silent Quakes Subduction zones tend to produce the largest and potentially most destructive earthquakes. Recent observations show that some deformation in several subduction zones seems to be occurring through small or “silent” quakes. The origin of these silent quakes, and their effect on the seismic hazard, is uncertain. Song et al. (p. 502) use a specific seismic signal to map out thin regions with low seismic velocities on the subduction zone beneath southern Mexico. The regions seem to occur at depths below the seismogenic zone where temperatures are higher. These high temperatures and the silent quakes may reflect the release and episodic trapping of fluids from metamorphic reactions. Great earthquakes have repeatedly occurred on the plate interface in a few shallow-dipping subduction zones where the subducting and overriding plates are strongly locked. Silent earthquakes (or slow slip events) were recently discovered at the down-dip extension of the locked zone and interact with the earthquake cycle. Here, we show that locally observed converted SP arrivals and teleseismic underside reflections that sample the top of the subducting plate in southern Mexico reveal that the ultra-slow velocity layer (USL) varies spatially (3 to 5 kilometers, with an S-wave velocity of ~2.0 to 2.7 kilometers per second). Most slow slip patches coincide with the presence of the USL, and they are bounded by the absence of the USL. The extent of the USL delineates the zone of transitional frictional behavior.

A very slow basal layer underlying large-scale low-velocity anomalies in the lower mantle beneath the Pacific: evidence from core phases

A multi-phase analysis using long-period World Wide Standardized Seismograph Network and Canadian Network data has been conducted using core-phases for deep focus events from the southwest Pacific. These include SKS, S2KS, SVd_(iff), and SP_dKS. The last phase emerges from SKS near 106° and is associated with a P-wave diffracting along the bottom of the mantle. Patterns in S2KS - SKS differential travel times (T_(S2KS-SKS)) correlate with those in SP_dKS - SKS (T_(SPdKS-SKS)). T_(S2KS-SKS) values strongly depend on variations in V_S structure in the lower third of the mantle, whereas T_(SPdKS-SKS) values mainly depend on V_P structure and variations in a thin zone (100 km or less) at the very base of the mantle. Anomalously large T_(S2KS-SKS) and T_(SPdKS-SKS) values (relative to the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM)) are present for Fiji-Tonga and Kermadec events (recorded in North and South America), along with anomalously large SV_(diff) amplitudes well into the cores shadow. More northerly paths beneath the Pacific to North America for Indonesian and Solomon events display both PREM-like and anomalous times. A model compatible with the observations is presented, and contains a thin very-low-velocity layer at the base of the mantle that underlies the large volumetric lower-mantle low-velocity regions in the southwest Pacific. A low-velocity layer of 20–100 km thickness with reductions of up to 5–10% (relative to PREM) can reproduce T_(SPdKS-SKS) as well as SV_(diff) amplitudes. Large-scale (more than 1000 km) lower-mantle V_S heterogeneity (2–4%) can explain long-wavelength trends in T_(S2KS-SKS). The exact thickness and velocity reduction in the basal layer is uncertain, owing to difficulties in resolving whether anomalous structure occurs on the source- and/or receiver-side of wavepaths (at the CMB).

Evidence for strong shear velocity reductions and velocity gradients in the lower mantle beneath Africa

We present data which indicate that the broad, low shear velocity anomaly beneath southern Africa is stronger and more extensive than previously thought. Recordings of earthquakes in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean at an array of broadband seismic stations in eastern Africa show anomalously large propagation time delays of the shear phases S, ScS, and SKS which vary rapidly with epicentral distance. By forward modeling, we estimate that the low velocity anomaly extends from the core-mantle boundary about 1500 km up into the mantle and that the average shear velocity within this structure is 3% lower than in standard models such as PREM. Strong velocity contrasts exist at its margins (2% over about 300 km). These seismic characteristic are consistent with recent numerical simulations of lower mantle mega-plume formation.

Slip history and dynamic implications of the 1999 Chi‐Chi, Taiwan, earthquake

We investigate the rupture process of the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake using extensive near-source observations, including three-component velocity waveforms at 36 strong motion stations and 119 GPS measurements. A three-plane fault geometry derived from our previous inversion using only static data [ Ji et al., 2001 ] is applied. The slip amplitude, rake angle, rupture initiation time, and risetime function are inverted simultaneously with a recently developed finite fault inverse method that combines a wavelet transform approach with a simulated annealing algorithm [ Ji et al., 2002b ]. The inversion results are validated by the forward prediction of an independent data set, the teleseismic P and SH ground velocities, with notable agreement. The results show that the total seismic moment release of this earthquake is 2.7 × 10^20 N m and that most of the slip occurred in a triangular-shaped asperity involving two fault segments, which is consistent with our previous static inversion. The rupture front propagates with an average rupture velocity of ∼2.0 km s^(−1), and the average slip duration (risetime) is 7.2 s. Several interesting observations related to the temporal evolution of the Chi-Chi earthquake are also investigated, including (1) the strong effect of the sinuous fault plane of the Chelungpu fault on spatial and temporal variations in slip history, (2) the intersection of fault 1 and fault 2 not being a strong impediment to the rupture propagation, and (3) the observation that the peak slip velocity near the surface is, in general, higher than on the deeper portion of the fault plane, as predicted by dynamic modeling.