Susana Custódio

Kinematic Inversion of the 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield Earthquake Including an Approximation to Site Effects

The 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield earthquake yielded one of the largest amounts of near-source strong ground motion seismic data ever. We invert strong-motion seismograms to obtain a model for the space-time distribution of coseismic slip on the fault. To reduce noise in the inversion, we take into account local amplifications that affect each station by using records of the 1983 M 6.5 Coalinga earthquake. Site amplification correlates well with large peak ground velocities registered during the 2004 Parkfield mainshock. The inversion for a kinematic rupture model yields a nonunique solution; we therefore analyze various rupture models that explain the data equally well. Our preferred rupture model identifies a primary zone of high slip surrounding the hypocenter, where the maximum slip is 57 cm. A secondary slip area, over which contours are not well resolved, is located northwest of the hypo- center. The rupture speed is highly heterogeneous. We infer an average rupture ve- locity of 2.8 km/sec close to the hypocenter, and of 3.3 km/sec in the secondary region of large slip to the northwest of the hypocenter. By correlation of our rupture model with both microseismicity and velocity structure, we identify six patches on the fault plane that behave in seismically distinct ways. Online material: Kinematic rupture model parameters.

Constraining earthquake source inversions with GPS data: 1. Resolution-based removal of artifacts

[1] We present a resolution analysis of an inversion of GPS data from the 2004 Mw 6.0 Parkfield earthquake. This earthquake was recorded at thirteen 1-Hz GPS receivers, which provides for a truly coseismic data set that can be used to infer the static slip field. We find that the resolution of our inverted slip model is poor at depth and near the edges of the modeled fault plane that are far from GPS receivers. The spatial heterogeneity of the model resolution in the static field inversion leads to artifacts in poorly resolved areas of the fault plane. These artifacts look qualitatively similar to asperities commonly seen in the final slip models of earthquake source inversions, but in this inversion they are caused by a surplus of free parameters. The location of the artifacts depends on the station geometry and the assumed velocity structure. We demonstrate that a nonuniform gridding of model parameters on the fault can remove these artifacts from the inversion. We generate a nonuniform grid with a grid spacing that matches the local resolution length on the fault and show that it outperforms uniform grids, which either generate spurious structure in poorly resolved regions or lose recoverable information in well-resolved areas of the fault. In a synthetic test, the nonuniform grid correctly averages slip in poorly resolved areas of the fault while recovering small-scale structure near the surface. Finally, we present an inversion of the Parkfield GPS data set on the nonuniform grid and analyze the errors in the final model.

The 2004 Mw6.0 Parkfield, California, earthquake: Inversion of near-source ground motion using multiple data sets

On 28 September 2004, the M(w)6.0 Parkfield earthquake became the most densely recorded earthquake for near-source ground-motion. To infer the kinematic nature of this event we invert the strong-motion data. The non-linear global inversion yields slip amplitude, slip rake, average rupture velocity, and rise time over the fault. By using subsets of the data, we study the dependence of the kinematic solutions on data input. The inversions reveal that the slip amplitude was less than 0.65 m and outline two major areas of slip; one that laterally surrounds the hypocenter, preferentially extending to its SE; the other 10 to 20 km NW of the hypocenter, at a depth between 2 and 8 km. The slip amplitude we obtain for each point on the fault varies less than 0.15 m depending on data set used; the rake angle variability is less than 40 degrees.

The Earthquake‐Source Inversion Validation (SIV) Project

Finite-fault earthquake source inversions infer the (time-dependent) displacement on the rupture surface from geophysical data. The resulting earthquake source models document the complexity of the rupture process. However, multiple source models for the same earthquake, obtained by different research teams, often exhibit remarkable dissimilarities. To address the uncertainties in earthquake-source inversion methods and to understand strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches used, the Source Inversion Validation (SIV) project conducts a set of forward-modeling exercises and inversion benchmarks. In this article, we describe the SIV strategy, the initial benchmarks, and current SIV results. Furthermore, we apply statistical tools for quantitative waveform comparison and for investigating source-model (dis)similarities that enable us to rank the solutions, and to identify particularly promising source inversion approaches. All SIV exercises (with related data and descriptions) and statistical comparison tools are available via an online collaboration platform, and we encourage source modelers to use the SIV benchmarks for developing and testing new methods. We envision that the SIV efforts will lead to new developments for tackling the earthquake-source imaging problem.

Parkfield earthquakes: Characteristic or complementary?

We model the two most recent Mw~6 Parkfield, California, earthquakes, which occurred in 1966 and 2004, from a nonlinear global inversion of near-fault strong motion seismograms. Our rupture models are characterized by spatially variable slip amplitude and rake, rupture velocity, and risetime. The rupture models indicate that the two earthquakes generated slip in regions of the fault that are not identical, as earlier suggested. Given the sparse seismic data set available for the 1966 earthquake, we conduct a series of tests to verify our results: (1) we perform synthetic tests in order to study the resolution of the 1966 seismic data set; (2) we perform an inversion of the 2004 earthquake using a data set equivalent to the 1966 earthquake; and (3) we model the 1966 data set under the a priori assumption that it was similar to the 2004 earthquake. All of the tests, as well as independent observations, indicate that slip during the 1966 and 2004 Parkfield earthquakes occurred in different regions of the fault. This result implies that regions of a fault that are frictionally locked may remain locked even during a main shock (moderate-size earthquake). In this scenario, large earthquakes occur when all the locked regions of a fault are “synchronized” and ready to slip at the same time.

Educating for earthquake science and risk in a tectonically slowly deforming region

Over the past decade, scientists have been called to participate more actively in public education and outreach (E&O). This is particularly true in fields of significant societal impact, such as earthquake science. Local earthquake risk culture plays a role in the way that the public engages in educational efforts. In this article, we describe an adapted E&O program for earthquake science and risk. The program is tailored for a region of slow tectonic deformation, where large earthquakes are extreme events that occur with long return periods. The adapted program has two main goals: (1) to increase the awareness and preparedness of the population to earthquake and related risks (tsunami, liquefaction, fires, etc.), and (2) to increase the quality of earthquake science education, so as to attract talented students to geosciences. Our integrated program relies on activities tuned for different population groups who have different interests and abilities, namely young children, teenagers, young adults, and professionals.

Seismotectonics of the Horseshoe Abyssal Plain and Gorringe Bank, eastern Atlantic Ocean – constraints from ocean-bottom seismometer data†

At the eastern end of the Azores-Gloria transform fault system to the southwest of Portugal, the plate boundary between Africa and Iberia is a region where deformation is accommodated over a wide tectonically-active area. The region has unleashed large earthquakes and tsunamis, including the Mw ~ 8.5 Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Although the source region of the 1755 earthquake is still disputed, most proposals include a source location in the vicinity of the Horseshoe Abyssal Plain (HAP), which is bounded by the 5000 m high Gorringe Bank (GB). In this study we characterise seismic activity in the region using data recorded by two local networks of ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS). The networks were deployed in the eastern HAP and at the GB. The dataset allowed the detection of 160 local earthquakes. These earthquakes cluster around the GB, to the SW of Cabo Sao Vicente, and in the HAP. Focal depths indicate deep-seated earthquakes, with depths increasing from 20-35 km (mean of 26.1 ± 7.2 km) at the GB to 15-45 km (mean 31.5 km ± 10.5 km) under the HAP. Seismic activity thus extends down to levels that are deeper than those mapped by active seismic profiling, with the majority of events occurring within the mantle. Thermal modelling suggests that temperatures of approximately 600 °C characterise the base of the seismogenic brittle lithosphere at ~45 km depth. The large source depth and thermal structure supports previous suggestions that catastrophic seismic rupture through the lithospheric mantle may indeed occur in the area.

An Active Seismic Zone in Intraplate West Iberia Inferred From High‐Resolution Geophysical Data

Intraplate Iberia is a region of slow lithopsheric deformation (<1 mm/yr) with significant historical earthquake activity. Recent high-quality instrumental data have shown that small-magnitude earthquakes collapse along clusters and lineaments, which however do not bear a clear relationship to geologically mapped active structures. In this article, we investigate the controls of these earthquake clusters. In particular, we study two of the identified clusters—the Arraiolos and the Évora seismic zones (ASZ and ESZ), located in the Western Ossa Morena Zone, southwest Iberia. The ASZ marks a sharp boundary between a seismically active region to its south and a more quiet region to its north. We revise historical earthquakes in order to clarify whether earthquake activity in the region is persistent. We use data from a local network to compute accurate epicenters, focal depth, focal mechanisms, and spatiotemporal clustering, thus characterizing ongoing small-scale fracturing. Finally, we analyze complementary data sets, including tomographic models, Global Navigation Satellite Systems data, magnetic anomalies, and gravity anomalies, in order to discuss the factors that control seismogenesis in the two seismic zones. Consistency between earthquake locations, focal mechanisms and Global Navigation Satellite Systems data suggests that the ASZ is an active right-lateral shear zone, which divides two blocks within the Western Ossa Morena Zone. The ESZ seems to localize microseismicity due to its granitic lithology. These results suggest that high-resolution geophysical data have the potential to reveal blocks with different seismogenic and rheological behaviors, which may be used to improve our understanding of fault systems and the assessment of earthquake hazard in slowly deforming regions. Plain Language Summary Mainland Portugal is a region of slow lithospheric deformation. This means that changes in Earth’s outmost layer—the lithosphere—occur at very low rates (<1 mm/yr). In such environments, faults producing earthquakes are not easy to identify at the Earth’s surface, both because their evidence can be gradually erased by wind and water or simply because they do not reach the surface. Recent studies have shown that small earthquakes in mainland Portugal group together delineating seismically more active regions. In this article we focus in two particular groups of earthquakes—the Arraiolos and the Évora seismic zones (ASZ and ESZ) and we investigate why they occur in these particular locations. We obtain precise maps of earthquake epicenters. When possible, we also analyze the direction of slip during the earthquake and the orientation of the fracture on which it occurred. We compare our results with other data sets, such as images of the Earth’s interior, that could give hints about the constitution of crust beneath the ASZ and the ESZ. Earthquakes epicenters show fault sections at depth in the ASZ. These faults separate two crustal blocks with distinct material properties. In the ESZ earthquakes are associated to contrasts in crustal materials.