William B. Frank

Using systematically characterized low-frequency earthquakes as a fault probe in Guerrero, Mexico

Studies of low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) have focused on detecting events within previously identified tectonic tremor. However, the principal LFE detection tools of matched-filter searches are intrinsically incapable of detecting events that have not already been characterized previously as a template event. In this study, we therefore focus on generating the largest number possible of LFE templates by uniformly applying a recently developed LFE template detection method to a 2.5 yearlong data set in Guerrero, Mexico. Using each of the detected templates in a matched-filter search, we then form event families that each represents a single source. We finally develop simple, empirical statistics to select the event families that represent LFEs. Our resulting catalog contains 1120 unique LFE sources and a total of 1,849,486 detected LFEs over the 2.5 yearlong data set. The locations of the LFE sources are then divided into subcatalogs based on their distance from the subduction trench. Considering each LFE as a small unit of slip along the subduction interface, we observe discrete episodes of LFE activity in the region associated with large slow-slip events; this is in direct contrast to the near-continuous activity observed 35 km farther downdip within the previously identified LFE/tremor sweet spot.

Uncovering the geodetic signature of silent slip through repeating earthquakes

Slow transient slip that releases stress along the deep roots of plate interfaces is most often observed on regional GPS networks installed at the surface. The detection of slow slip is not trivial if the dislocation along the fault at depth does not generate a geodetic signal greater than the observational noise level. Instead of the typical workflow of comparing independently gathered seismic and geodetic observations to study slow slip, we use repeating low-frequency earthquakes to reveal a previously unobserved slow slip event. By aligning GPS time series with episodes of low-frequency earthquake activity and stacking, we identify a repeating transient slip event that generates a displacement at the surface that is hidden under noise prior to stacking. Our results suggest that the geodetic investigation of transient slip guided by seismological information is essential in exploring the spectrum of fault slip.

Slow slip hidden in the noise: the intermittence of tectonic release

Referred to as slow slip events, the transient aseismic slip that occurs along plate boundaries can be indirectly characterized through colocated seismicity, such as tectonic tremor and low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs). Using the timing of cataloged LFE and tremor activity in Guerrero, Mexico and northern Cascadia, I decompose the inter-aseismic GPS displacement, defined as the surface deformation between previously detected slow slip events, into separate regimes of tectonic loading and release. In such a way, previously undetected slow slip events that produce less than a millimeter of surface deformation are extracted from the geodetic noise. These new observations demonstrate that the inter-aseismic period is not quiescent and that slow slip occurs much more often than previously thought. This suggests that the plate interface where slow slip and tremor occur is in fact strongly coupled and that slow aseismic release occurs over a wide spectrum of time scales.

The evolving interaction of low-frequency earthquakes during transient slip

The clustering of repeating low-frequency earthquakes through interaction reveals the state of the tectonic plate boundary. Observed along the roots of seismogenic faults where the locked interface transitions to a stably sliding one, low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) primarily occur as event bursts during slow slip. Using an event catalog from Guerrero, Mexico, we employ a statistical analysis to consider the sequence of LFEs at a single asperity as a point process, and deduce the level of time clustering from the shape of its autocorrelation function. We show that while the plate interface remains locked, LFEs behave as a simple Poisson process, whereas they become strongly clustered in time during even the smallest slow slip, consistent with interaction between different LFE sources. Our results demonstrate that bursts of LFEs can result from the collective behavior of asperities whose interaction depends on the state of the fault interface.

Revealing the cluster of slow transients behind a large slow slip event

A slow slip event is a cluster of small aseismic slip transients intermittently interrupted by relocking of the plate interface. Capable of reaching similar magnitudes to large megathrust earthquakes [Mw (moment magnitude) > 7], slow slip events play a major role in accommodating tectonic motion on plate boundaries through predominantly aseismic rupture. We demonstrate here that large slow slip events are a cluster of short-duration slow transients. Using a dense catalog of low-frequency earthquakes as a guide, we investigate the Mw 7.5 slow slip event that occurred in 2006 along the subduction interface 40 km beneath Guerrero, Mexico. We show that while the long-period surface displacement, as recorded by Global Positioning System, suggests a 6-month duration, the motion in the direction of tectonic release only sporadically occurs over 55 days, and its surface signature is attenuated by rapid relocking of the plate interface. Our proposed description of slow slip as a cluster of slow transients forces us to re-evaluate our understanding of the physics and scaling of slow earthquakes.

A geodetic matched filter search for slow slip with application to the Mexico subduction zone

Since the discovery of slow slip events, many methods have been successfully applied to model obvious transient events in geodetic time series, such as the widely used network strain filter. Independent seismological observations of tremors or low-frequency earthquakes and repeating earthquakes provide evidence of low-amplitude slow deformation but do not always coincide with clear occurrences of transient signals in geodetic time series. Here we aim to extract the signal corresponding to slow slips hidden in the noise of GPS time series, without using information from independent data sets. We first build a library of synthetic slow slip event templates by assembling a source function with Green’s functions for a discretized fault. We then correlate the templates with postprocessed GPS time series. Once the events have been detected in time, we estimate their duration T and magnitude Mw by modeling a weighted stack of GPS time series. An analysis of synthetic time series shows that this method is able to resolve the correct timing, location, T , and Mw of events larger than Mw 6 in the context of the Mexico subduction zone. Applied on a real data set of 29 GPS time series in the Guerrero area from 2005 to 2014, this technique allows us to detect 28 transient events from Mw 6.3 to 7.2 with durations that range from 3 to 39 days. These events have a dominant recurrence time of 40 days and are mainly located at the downdip edges of the Mw > 7.5 slow slip events.