A detailed seismicity study of the Middle Mountain zone at Parkfield, California

1990 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-588
Author(s):  
Gail K. Nishioka ◽  
Andrew J. Michael
Keyword(s):  
San Andreas Fault ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Seismogenic Zone ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Motion Data ◽  
Station Corrections ◽  
The North ◽  
San Andreas ◽  
First Motion

Abstract In order to better understand the preparation zone of the predicted Parkfield earthquake, a detailed study of the seismicity at middle Mountain in the Parkfield, California, area was made using 71 digitally recorded earthquakes that located within, or close to, the Middle Mountain alert box. These earthquakes were retimed on an interactive graphics system. Based on these new arrival times, new station corrections were developed; however the data did not support changing the velocity model developed from refraction and 1966 aftershock data. The process of retiming the earthquakes and using the new station corrections reduced the rms travel-time residuals by 70 per cent to 0.025 sec, halved the location errors, and clustered the earthquakes closer to the surface trace of the San Andreas fault. The seismicity can be approximated by a plane on the scale of several kilometers, but at finer scales two clusters were discovered that show demonstrable width to the seismogenic zone. Previous workers had proposed a 5° bend in the fault at the hypocenter of the 1966 main shock on the basis of patterns in the first motion data in the 1966 aftershocks. We find that this pattern also exists in the first-motion data from 1969 to 1987, but the 5° bend was not evident in the hypocentral distribution. This suggests that a more complicated explanation is needed to explain the first-motion data. Fault plane solutions were determined for the 71 events and 69 of these were compatible with strike-slip motion on a vertical San Andreas fault. An event located in the north end of the study area co-locates with the strike-slip solutions and may be a thrust or oblique solution. The other earthquake, located 2½ kilometers northeast of the fault, has a thrust or NNE-SSW striking right lateral solution but can not be explained by a San Andreas style mechanism. Both possible solutions can be explained by structures observed in the geology.

The 25 October, 2018 Zakynthos (Greece) earthquake: seismic activity at the transition between a transform fault and a subduction zone.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Papadimitriou ◽  
V Kapetanidis ◽  
A Karakonstantis ◽  
I Spingos ◽  
K Pavlou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Accretionary Prism ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Double Difference ◽  
Strain Partitioning ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
The North ◽  
Waveform Modelling

Summary The properties of the Mw = 6.7 earthquake that took place on 25 October 2018, 22:54:51 UTC, ∼50 km SW of the Zakynthos Island, Greece, are thoroughly examined. The main rupture occurred on a dextral strike-slip, low-angle, east-dipping fault at a depth of 12 km, as determined by teleseismic waveform modelling. Over 4000 aftershocks were manually analysed for a period of 158 days. The events were initially located with an optimal 1D velocity model and then relocated with the double-difference method to reveal details of their spatial distribution. The latter spreads in an area spanning 80 km NNW-SSE and ∼55 km WSW-ENE. Certain parts of the aftershock zone present strong spatial clustering, mainly to the north, close to Zakynthos Island, and at the southernmost edge of the sequence. Focal mechanisms were determined for 61 significant aftershocks using regional waveform modelling. The results revealed characteristics similar to the mainshock, with few aftershocks exhibiting strike-slip faulting at steeper dip angles, possibly related to splay faults on the accretionary prism. The slip vectors that correspond to the east-dipping planes are compatible with the long-term plate convergence and with the direction of coseismic displacement on the Zakynthos Island. Fault-plane solutions in the broader study area were inverted for the determination of the regional stress-field. The results revealed a nearly horizontal, SW-NE to E-W-trending S1 and a more variable S3 axis, favouring transpressional tectonics. Spatial clusters at the northern and southern ends of the aftershock zone coincide with the SW extension of sub-vertical along-dip faults of the segmented subducting slab. The mainshock occurred in an area where strike-slip tectonics, related to the Cephalonia Transform Fault and the NW Peloponnese region, gradually converts into reverse faulting at the western edge of the Hellenic subduction. Plausible scenarios for the 2018 Zakynthos earthquake sequence include a rupture on the subduction interface, provided the slab is tilted eastwards in that area, or the reactivation of an older east-dipping thrust as a low-angle strike-slip fault that contributes to strain partitioning.

Microearthquake seismicity and tectonics of Coastal Northern California

1970 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1669-1699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Seeber ◽  
Muawia Barazangi ◽  
Ali Nowroozi
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
San Andreas Fault ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Sharp Bend ◽  
San Andreas

Abstract This paper demonstrates that high-gain, high-frequency portable seismographs operated for short intervals can provide unique data on the details of the current tectonic activity in a very small area. Five high-frequency, high-gain seismographs were operated at 25 sites along the coast of northern California during the summer of 1968. Eighty per cent of 160 microearthquakes located in the Cape Mendocino area occurred at depths between 15 and 35 km in a well-defined, horizontal seismic layer. These depths are significantly greater than those reported for other areas along the San Andreas fault system in California. Many of the earthquakes of the Cape Mendocino area occurred in sequences that have approximately the same magnitude versus length of faulting characteristics as other California earthquakes. Consistent first-motion directions are recorded from microearthquakes located within suitably chosen subdivisions of the active area. Composite fault plane solutions indicate that right-lateral movement prevails on strike-slip faults that radiate from Cape Mendocino northwest toward the Gorda basin. This is evidence that the Gorda basin is undergoing internal deformation. Inland, east of Cape Mendocino, a significant component of thrust faulting prevails for all the composite fault plane solutions. Thrusting is predominant in the fault plane solution of the June 26 1968 earthquake located along the Gorda escarpement. In general, the pattern of slip is consistent with a north-south crustal shortening. The Gorda escarpment, the Mattole River Valley, and the 1906 fault break northwest of Shelter Cove define a sharp bend that forms a possible connection between the Mendocino escarpment and the San Andreas fault. The distribution of hypocenters, relative travel times of P waves, and focal mechanisms strongly indicate that the above three features are surface expressions of an important structural boundary. The sharp bend in this boundary, which is concave toward the southwest, would tend to lock the dextral slip along the San Andreas fault and thus cause the regional north-south compression observed at Cape Mendocino. The above conclusions support the hypothesis that dextral strike-slip motion along the San Andreas fault is currently being taken up by slip along the Mendocino escarpment as well as by slip along northwest trending faults in the Gorda basin.

Identifying 2000 small and large creep events on the San Andreas Fault.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Gittins ◽  
Jessica Hawthorne
Keyword(s):  
Cross Correlation ◽  
San Andreas Fault ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Automated Detection ◽  
Seismogenic Zone ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
San Andreas ◽  
Continuous Background

<p>The San Andreas fault has been observed to creep at the surface along the 175km section between San Juan Bautista and Cholame (Titus et al., 2011). This section is known as the creeping section and accumulates slip in two modes: during continuous background slip at a long term slip rate and in accelerated slip bursts known as creep events (Gladwin et al., 1994). But the size and importance of creep events remain unclear. Some researchers treat them as small, ~100-m-wide near-surface events (Gladwin et al., 1994), but others suggest that many creep events reach 4 km depth, connecting the surface to the seismogenic zone (Bilham et al., 2016). So, in this study, we systematically characterize the along-strike rupture extents of creep events along the San Andreas Fault, to determine if these are small, localized phenomena or large, segment-rupturing events.</p><p>We detect creep events and analyse their propagation using 18 USGS creepmeter records from the San Andreas Fault. Each creepmeter operated for at least 9 of the years between 1985 and 2020. To begin we systematically detect creep events using a cross-correlation approach. We identify periods that have significant slip and signals with high similarity to a template creep event. This automated detection allows us to produce a catalogue with 2000 creep events. The method detects at least 95% of the creep events identified by visual inspection.</p><p>Once we have found creep events at each creepmeter, we examine how creep events propagate. We compare creep event detections between pairs of creepmeters to determine how many creep events propagate from one creepmeter to the other. At the northern end of the creeping section, we observe that 18-28% of the creep events found at Harris Ranch are also found at Cienega Winery within 24hrs. This coincident timing implies that 18-28% of creep events in the north have an along-strike length of at least 4 km. Many creep events at the southern end of the creeping section appear to be even larger. For instance, a few events appear to be at least 31 km long; 10-38% of creep events at Slacks Canyon also observed at Work Ranch (31 km away) within 24hrs. These large along-strike rupture extents imply that creep events connect the slip and stress field over large regions of the San Andreas Fault. These events may play an important role in the slip dynamics of the creeping section.</p>

The earthquake sequence of November 1964 near Corralitos, California

1966 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas V. McEvilly
Keyword(s):  
Fault Plane ◽  
San Andreas Fault ◽  
Focal Region ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Central California ◽  
San Andreas ◽  
Motion Characteristic ◽  
First Motion ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Right

abstract A sequence of more than 100 aftershocks with magnitudes as low as −0.1 was recorded following a magnitude 5.0 earthquake on November 16, 1964, in the San Andreas fault zone of central California. The sequence was monitored in detail by three temporary seismographic stations at distances less than 15 km and the surrounding telemetry array. Nearly all of the 35 earthquakes which could be located clustered in a focal region about 4 km in diameter at a depth near 12 km and exhibited uniform first motion radiation patterns. First motion fault plane solutions are consistent with the right lateral transcurrent motion characteristic of the San Andreas fault. Exceptions to this uniform radiation pattern in the concentrated focal region occurred near the times of two large aftershocks apparently on another fault about 5 km away.

Interpretation of seismic reflection profiling data for the structure of the San Andreas fault zone

1983 ◽  
Vol 73 (6A) ◽  
pp. 1701-1720
Author(s):  
R. Feng ◽  
T. V. McEvilly
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
San Andreas Fault ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Seismic Reflection Profile ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Zone Structure ◽  
Ray Method ◽  
Velocity Change ◽  
San Andreas

Abstract A seismic reflection profile crossing the San Andreas fault zone in central California was conducted in 1978. Results are complicated by the extreme lateral heterogeneity and low velocities in the fault zone. Other evidence for severe lateral velocity change across the fault zone lies in hypocenter bias and nodal plane distortion for earthquakes on the fault. Conventional interpretation and processing methods for reflection data are hard-pressed in this situation. Using the inverse ray method of May and Covey (1981), with an initial model derived from a variety of data and the impedance contrasts inferred from the preserved amplitude stacked section, an iterative inversion process yields a velocity model which, while clearly nonunique, is consistent with the various lines of evidence on the fault zone structure.

Seismotectonics of the Ionian-Akarnania Block (IAB) and Western Greece deduced from a local seismic deployment.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Haddad ◽  
Athanassios Ganas ◽  
Ioannis Kassaras ◽  
Matteo Lupi
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Focal Mechanisms ◽  
Seismogenic Zone ◽  
The South ◽  
S Wave ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Western Greece

<p>From July 2016 to May 2017, we deployed a local seismic network composed of 15 short-period seismic stations to investigate the ongoing seismotectonic deformation of Western Greece with emphasis on the region between Ambrakikos Gulf (to the north) and Kyparissia (to the south). The network was deployed to investigate the behavior of key crustal blocks in western Greece, such as the Ionian-Akarnania Block (IAB).</p><p>After applying automatic P- and S- wave phase picking we located 1200 local earthquakes using HypoInverse and constrained five 1D velocity model by applying the error minimization technique. Events were relocated using HypoDD and 76  focal mechanisms were computed for events with magnitudes down to M<sub>L</sub> 2.3 using first motion polarities.</p><p>We combined the calculated focal mechanisms and the relocated seismicity to shed light on the IAB block boundaries. Three boundaries highlighted by previous studies were also evidenced :</p><p>-The north-west margin of the block, the Cephalonia Transform Fault, Europe‘s most active fault. NW-striking dextral strike-slip motion was recognized for this fault near the Gulf of Myrtos and the town of Fiskardo.</p><p>- The south-east margin is the Movri-Amaliada right-lateral Fault Zone, activated during the Movri Mt. M<sub>w</sub> 6.4 earthquake sequence.</p><p>- The Ambrakikos Gulf (a young E-W rift) and the NW-striking left-lateral Katouna-Stamna Fault zone depict the north and north-eastern margins of the IAB block.</p><p>Seismicity lineaments and focal mechanisms define theKyllini-Cephalonia left-lateral fault, which is also highlighted by bathymetry data. We interpret this fault as the south-western margin of IAB separating an aseismic area observed between Cephalonia and Akarnania from a seismogenic zone north of Zakynthos Island and bridging NW Peloponnese with Cephalonia.</p>

Analysis of Shallow Microearthquakes in the South Sebec Seismic Zone, Maine, 1989–1990

1992 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Doll ◽  
Carol D. Rea ◽  
John E. Ebel ◽  
Sandra J. Craven ◽  
John J. Cipar
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
Seismic Zone ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Motion Data ◽  
First Motion ◽  
High Level ◽  
Surface Geology

Abstract Fifteen years of regional monitoring by the New England Seismic Network indicated a locally high level of seismicity near South Sebec, between the towns of Milo and Dover-Foxcroft in central Maine. Most of the events were located in a diffuse zone south of the distinctive, ENE trending Harriman Pond Fault (HPF) which is indicated by brittle deformation in outcrop and is represented as a depression in topographic maps and satellite images. A portable network consisting of both digital and analog instruments was deployed during the summers of 1989 and 1990 in order to characterize the pattern of the microearthquakes and to determine high-resolution epicenters, depths, and fault plane solutions. Seventy-three events were detected during the experiment, of which 28 could be located. Many of the events south of the fault lie along a NNW trending line which has no major expression in the surface geology. Only, a few of the events are subparallel to the HPF. The first motion data were insufficient for the determination of any fault plane solutions.

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