Characterization and spatial analysis of coseismic landslides triggered by the Luding Ms 6.8 earthquake in the Xianshuihe fault zone, Southwest China

On September 5, 2022, a magnitude Ms 6.8 earthquake occurred along the Moxi fault in the southern part of the Xianshuihe fault zone located in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau,resulting in severe damage and substantial economic loss. In this study, we established a coseismic landslide database triggered by Luding Ms 6.8 earthquake, which includes 4794 landslides with a total area of 46.79 km^(2). The coseismic landslides primarily consisted of medium and small-sized landslides, characterized by shallow surface sliding. Some exhibited characteristics of high-position initiation resulted in the obstruction or partial obstruction of rivers, leading to the formation of dammed lakes. Our research found that the coseismic landslides were predominantly observed on slopes ranging from 30° to 50°, occurring at between 1000 m and 2500 m, with slope aspects varying from 90° to 180°. Landslides were also highly developed in granitic bodies that had experienced structural fracturing and strong-tomoderate weathering. Coseismic landslides concentrated within a 6 km range on both sides of the Xianshuihe and Daduhe fault zones. The area and number of coseismic landslides exhibited a negative correlation with the distance to fault lines, road networks, and river systems, as they were influenced by fault activity, road excavation, and river erosion. The coseismic landslides were mainly distributed in the southeastern region of the epicenter, exhibiting relatively concentrated patterns within the IX-degree zones such as Moxi Town, Wandong River basin, Detuo Town to Wanggangping Township. Our research findings provide important data on the coseismic landslides triggered by the Luding Ms 6.8 earthquake and reveal the spatial distribution patterns of these landslides. These findings can serve as important references for risk mitigation, reconstruction planning, and regional earthquake disaster research in the earthquake-affected area.

Coseismic deformation and fault slip distribution of the 2023 M_(W)7.8 and M_(W)7.6 earthquakes in Türkiye

On February 6,2023,a devastating earthquake with a moment magnitude of M_(W)7.8 struck the town of Pazarcik in south-central Türkiye,followed by another powerful earthquake with a moment magnitude of M_(W)7.6 that struck the nearby city of Elbistan 9 h later.To study the characteristics of surface deformation caused by this event and the influence of fault rupture,this study calculated the static coseismic deformation of 56 stations and dynamic displacement waveforms of 15 stations using data from the Turkish national fixed global navigation satellite system(GNSS)network.A maximum static coseismic displacement of 0.38 m for the M_(W)7.8 Kahramanmaras earthquake was observed at station ANTE,36 km from the epicenter,and a maximum dynamic coseismic displacement of 4.4 m for the M_(W)7.6 Elbistan earthquake was observed at station EKZ1,5 km from the epicenter.The rupture-slip distributions of the two earthquakes were inverted using GNSS coseismic deformation as a constraint.The results showed that the Kahramanmaras earthquake rupture segment was distinct and exposed on the ground,resulting in significant rupture slip along the Amanos and Pazarcik fault segments of the East Anatolian Fault.The maximum slip in the Pazarcik fault segment was 10.7 m,and rupture occurred at depths of 0–15 km.In the Cardak fault region,the Elbistan earthquake caused significant ruptures at depths of 0–12 km,with the largest amount of slip reaching 11.6 m.The Coulomb stress change caused by the Kahramanmaras earthquake rupture along the Cardak fault segment was approximately 2 bars,and the area of increased Coulomb stress corresponded to the subsequent rupture region of the M_(W)7.6 earthquake.Thus,it is likely that the M_(W)7.8 earthquake triggered or promoted the M_(W)7.6 earthquake.Based on the cumulative stress impact of the M_(W)7.8 and M_(W)7.6 events,the southwestern segment of the East Anatolian Fault,specifically the Amanos fault segment,experienced a Coulomb rupture stress change exceeding 2 bars,warranting further attention to assess its future seismic hazard risk.

Coseismic Coulomb stress changes induced by a 2020-2021 M_(W)>7.0 Alaska earthquake sequence in and around the Shumagin gap and its influence on the Alaska-Aleutian subduction interface

Three M_(W)>7.0 earthquakes in 2020-2021 occurred in the Shumagin seismic gap and its adjacent area of the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone,including the Mw7.8 Simeonof thrust earthquake on July 22,2020,the M_(W)7.6 Sand Point strike-slip earthquake on October 19,2020,and the M_(W)8.2 Chignik thrust earthquake on July 29,2021.The spatial and temporal proximity of these three earthquakes prompts us to probe stress-triggering effects among them.Here we examine the coseismic Coulomb stress change imparted by the three earthquakes and their influence on the subduction interface.Our results show that:(1)The Simeonof earthquake has strong loading effects on the subsequent Sand Point and Chignik earthquakes,with the Coulomb stress changes of 3.95 bars and 2.89 bars,respectively.The Coulomb stress change caused by the Sand Point earthquake at the hypocenter of the Chignik earthquake is merely around 0.01 bars,suggesting the negligible triggering effect on the latter earthquake;(2)The triggering effects of the Simeonof,Sand Point,and Chignik earthquakes on aftershocks within three months are not well pronounced because of the triggering rates of 38%,14%,and 43%respectively.Other factors may have played an important role in promoting the occurrence of these aftershocks,such as the roughness of the subduction interface,the complicated velocity structure of the lithosphere,and the heterogeneous prestress therein;(3)The three earthquakes caused remarkable coseismic Coulomb stress changes at the subduction interface nearby these mainshocks,with an average Coulomb stress change of 3.2 bars in the shallow region directly inwards the trench.

Preliminary report of coseismic surface rupture(part)of Türkiye's M_(W)7.8 earthquake by remote sensing interpretation

Both M_(W) 7.8 and M_(W) 7.5 earthquakes occurred in southeastern Türkiye on February 6,2023,resulting in numerous buildings collapsing and serious casualties.Understanding the distribution of coseismic surface ruptures and secondary disasters surrounding the epicentral area is important for post-earthquake emergency and disaster assessments.High-resolution Maxar and GF-2 satellite data were used after the events to extract the location of the rupture surrounding the first epicentral area.The results show that the length of the interpreted surface rupture zone(part of)is approximately 75 km,with a coseismic sinistral dislocation of 2-3 m near the epicenter;however,this reduced to zero at the tip of the southwest section of the East Anatolia Fault Zone.Moreover,dense soil liquefaction pits were triggered along the rupture trace.These events are in the western region of the Eurasian Seismic Belt and result from the subduction and collision of the Arabian and African Plates toward the Eurasian Plate.The western region of the Chinese mainland and its adjacent areas are in the eastern section of the Eurasian Seismic Belt,where seismic activity is controlled by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plates.Both China and Türkiye have independent tectonic histories.

Synthetic aperture radar interferometry—based coseismic deformation and slip distribution of the 2022 Menyuan MS6.9 earthquake in Qinghai,China

On January 8,2022,a 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in Menyuan County,Qinghai Province,with the epicenter located at the intersection of the Tuolaishan Fault and the Lenglongling Fault,which are part of the Qilian—Haiyuan fault zone.This study investigated the sliding characteristics and seismic mechanism of the earthquake to understand the activity and seismic risk of the fault on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai—Tibet Plateau.This paper analyzed Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar images to obtain the coseismic deformation field of the earthquake,which was then used to invert the slip distribution of the seismogenic fault and the coseismic Coulomb stress on the surrounding faults caused by the earthquake.It was found that the earthquake was primarily characterized by sinistral strike-slip movement.Along the satellite line of sight,the south wall of the fault had a maximum deformation of 0.62 m,and the north wall had a maximum deformation of 0.48 m.The coseismic slip distribution results indicated that the maximum slip of the earthquake was 4.51 m,and the moment magnitude was MW6.7.The Coulomb stress analysis showed that the 2016 Menyuan earthquake promoted the occurrence of the 2022Menyuan earthquake.

A new method for coseismic offset detection from GPS coordinate time series

Currently,the extraction of coseismic offset signals primarily relies on earthquake catalog data to determine the occurrence time of earthquakes.This is followed by the process of differencing the average GPS coordinate time series data,with a time interval of 3 to 5 days before and after the earthquake.In the face of the huge amount of GPS coordinate time series data today,the conventional approach of relying on earthquake catalog data to assist in obtaining coseismic offset signals has become increasingly burdensome.To address this problem,we propose a new method for automatically detecting coseismic offset signals in GPS coordinate time series without an extra earthquake catalog for reference.Firstly,we pre-process the GPS coordinate time series data for filtering out stations with significant observations missing and detecting and removing outliers.Secondly,we eliminate other signals and errors in the GPS coordinate time series,such as trend and seasonal signals,leaving the coseismic offset signals as the primary signal.The resulting coordinate time series is then modeled using the first-order difference and data stacking method.The modeling method enables automatic detection of the coseismic offset signals in the GPS coordinate time series.The aforementioned method is applied to automatically detect coseismic offset signals using simulated data and the Searles Valley GPS data in California,USA.The results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed method,successfully detecting coseismic offsets from vast amounts of GPS coordinate time series data.

Coseismic site response and slope instability using periodic boundary conditions in the material point method

This paper proposed the explicit generalized-a time scheme and periodic boundary conditions in the material point method(MPM)for the simulation of coseismic site response.The proposed boundary condition uses an intuitive particle-relocation algorithm ensuring material points always remain within the computational mesh.The explicit generalized-a time scheme was implemented in MPM to enable the damping of spurious high frequency oscillations.Firstly,the MPM was verified against finite element method(FEM).Secondly,ability of the MPM in capturing the analytical transfer function was investigated.Thirdly,a symmetric embankment was adopted to investigate the effects of ground motion arias intensity(I_(a)),geometry dimensions,and constitutive models.The results show that the larger the model size,the higher the crest runout and settlement for the same ground motion.When using a Mohr-Coulomb model,the crest runout increases with increasing I_(a).However,if the strain-softening law is activated,the results are less influenced by the ground motion.Finally,the MPM results were compared with the Newmark sliding block solution.The simplified analysis herein highlights the capabilities of MPM to capture the full deformation process for earthquake engineering applications,the importance of geometry characterization,and the selection of appropriate constitutive models when simulating coseismic site response and subsequent large deformations.

Coseismic displacements and inospheric changes of the 2013 Ms7. 0 Lushan earthquake from GPS measurements

By inverting GPS data recorded at stations of the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China （CMONOC） near the 2013 Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake, we found a horizontal displacement of 22 mm at a site about 32 kin SW of the epicenter and vertical displacements of as much as 12.4 mm at several sites. The vertical displacements were generally uplift on the west side of the nearby Longmenshan fault zone and subsidence on the east side. We also found coseismic ionospheric disturbances about 0.5 to 0.9 TECU in amplitude that lasted for about one hour.

Numerical Simulation on Coseismic Effect of the November 14,2001 Great Kunlun Earthquake,Northern Tibet,China

The November 14,2001 M_S8.1 Kunlun Mountains earthquake in northern Tibet is the largest earthquake occurring on the Chinese mainland since 1950.We apply a three-dimensional(3-D)finite element numerical procedure to model the coseismic displacement and stress fields of the earthquake based on field investigations.We then further investigate the stress interaction between the M_S8.1 earthquake and the intensive aftershocks.Our primary calculation shows that the coseismic displacement field is centralized around the east Kunlun fault zone.And the attenuation of coseismic displacements on the south side of Kunlun fault zone is larger than that on the north side.The calculated coseismic stress field also indicates that the calculated maximal shear stress field is centralized around the east Kunlun fault zone;the directions of the coseismic major principal stress are opposite to that of the background crustal stress field of the Qinghai-Xizang(Tibet)Plateau.It indicates that the earthquake relaxes the crustal stress state in the Qinghai-Xizang(Tibet)Plateau.Finally,we study the stress interaction between M_S8.1 earthquake and its intensive aftershocks.The calculated Coulomb stress changes of the M_S8.1 great earthquake are in favor of triggering 4 aftershocks.

Parameters of Coseismic Reverse- and Oblique-Slip Surface Ruptures of the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake,Eastern Tibetan Plateau

On May 12th, 2008, the Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake ruptured the Beichuan, Pengguan and Xiaoyudong faults simultaneously along the middle segment of the Longmenshan thrust belt at the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. Field investigations constrain the surface rupture pattern, length and offsets related to the Wenchuan earthquake. The Beichuan fault has a NE-trending rightlateral reverse rupture with a total length of 240 km. Reassessment yields a maximum vertical offset of 6.5±0.5 m and a maximum right-lateral offset of 4.9±0.5 m for its northern segment, which are the largest offsets found; the maximum vertical offset is 6.2±0.5 m for its southern segment. The Pengguan fault has a NE-trending pure reverse rupture about 72 km long with a maximum vertical offset of about 3.5 m. The Xiaoyudong fault has a NW-striking left-lateral reverse rupture about 7 km long between the Beichuan and Pengguan faults, with a maximum vertical offset of 3.4 m and left-lateral offset of 3.5 m. This pattern of multiple co-seismic surface ruptures is among the most complicated of recent great earthquakes and presents a much larger danger than if they ruptured individually. The rupture length is the longest for reverse faulting events ever reported.

Preliminary analysis on characteristics of coseismic deformation associated with MS=8.1 western Kunlunshan Pass earthquake in 2001

Based on the analysis of coseismic deformation in the macroscopic epicentral region extracted by Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (D-InSAR), and combined with the seismic activity, focal mechanism solutions of the earthquake and field investigation, the characteristic of coseismic deformation of MS=8.1 western Kunlunshan Pass earthquake in 2001 was researched. The study shows that its epicenter lies in the northeast side of Hoh Sai Hu; and the seismogenic fault in the macroscopic epicentral region can be divided into two central deformation fields: the west and east segments with the lengths of 42 km and 48 km, respectively. The whole fault extends about 90 km. From the distribution of interferometry fringes, the characteristic of sinistral strike slip of seismogenic fault can be identified clearly. The deformations on both sides of the fault are different with an obviously higher value on the south side. In the vicinity of macroscopic epicenter, the maximum displacement in look direction is about 288.4 cm and the minimum is 224.0 cm; the maximum sinistral horizontal dislocation of seismogenic fault near the macroscopic epicenter is 738.1 cm and the minimum is 551.8 cm.

Active source monitoring at the Wenchuan fault zone:coseismic velocity change associated with aftershock event and its implication

With the improvement of seismic observation system, more and more observations indicate that earthquakes may cause seismic velocity change. However, the amplitude and spatial distribution of the velocity variation remains a controversial issue. Recent active source monitoring carried out adjacent to Wenchuan Fault Scientific Drilling （WFSD） revealed unambiguous coseismic velocity change associated with a local M8 5.5 earthquake. Here, we carry out forward modeling using two-dimensional spectral element method to further investigate the amplitude and spatial distribution of observed velocity change. The model is well constrained by results from seismic reflection and WFSD coring. Our model strongly suggests that the observed coseismic velocity change is localized within the fault zone with width of ~ 120 m rather than dynamic strong ground shaking. And a velocity decrease of -2.0 % within the fault zone is required to fit the observed travel time delay distribution, which coincides with rock mechanical experiment and theoretical modeling.

Interpreting the Coseismic Uplift and Subsidence of the Longmen Shan Foreland Basin System during the Wenchuan Earthquake by a Elastic Flexural Model

The coseismic surface uplift of the Longmen Shan（LMS） created an instantaneous topographic load over the western margin of the Sichuan Basin, where surface subsidence, decreasing eastward, has been measured using several methods, such as GPS, SAR and levelling. Using an elastic flexural model, we aim to interpret the coseismic surface uplift and subsidence, and constrain the effective lithospheric elastic thickness（Te） of the Sichuan Basin. Using different effective elastic thickness values for the Sichuan Basin, a series of subsidence curves were computed by the elastic flexure model equation for a broken elastic plate. The curves, produced by models using an effective elastic thickness of 30–40 km, provided the best fit to the general pattern of observed coseismic subsidence of the Sichuan Basin. However, the calculated subsidence（-40–70 cm） at the front of the LMS is evidently lower than the observed values（-100 cm）, suggesting that the effective elastic thickness therein should be lower. These results indicate that the lithospheric strength may decrease westward from the Sichuan Basin to the LMS.

Coseismic and postseismic slip ruptures for 2015Mw 6.4 Pishan earthquake constrained by static GPS solutions

On 3 July 2015, a Mw 6.4 earthquake occurred on a blind fault struck Pishan, Xinjiang,China. By combining Crustal Movement Observation Network of China（CMONOC） and other Static Global Positioning System（GPS） sites surrounding Pishan region, it provides a rare chance for us to constrain the slip rupture for such a moderate event. The maximum displacement is up to 12 cm, 2 cm for coseismic and postseismic deformation, respectively,and both the deformation patterns show a same direction moving northeastward. With rectangular dislocation model, a magnitude of Mw6.48, Mw6.3 is calculated based on coseismic, postseismic deformation respectively. Our result indicates the western Kunlun range is still moving toward Tarim Basin followed by an obvious postseismic slip associated with this earthquake. To determine a more reasonable model for postseismic deformation, a longer GPS dataset will be needed.

Detection of a half-microgal coseismic gravity change after the Ms7. 0 Lushan earthquake

Because only a small near-field coseismie gravity change signal remains after removal of noise from the accuracy of observations and the time and spatial resolution of the earth＇s surface gravity observation system, it is difficult to verify simulations of dislocation theory. In this study, it is shown that the GS15 gravimeter, located 99.5 km from the epicenter of the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake on April 20, 2013 at 08 ： 04 UTC ＋ 8, showed the influence of the earthquake from 2013-04-16 to 2013-04-26 after a time calibration, tide correc- tions, drift correction, period correction and relaxation correction were applied to its data. The post-seismic relaxation process of the spring in the gravimeter took approximately 430 minutes and showed a 2. 5 ×10^-8 ms^-2 gravity change. After correcting for the relaxation process, it is shown that a coseismic gravity change of approximately ＋0.59 ＋-0. 4 ~ 10-Sms-2 was observed by the GS15 gravimeter; this agrees with the simulated gravity change of approximately 0.31 ~ 10 -8 ms-2. The rate of the coseismie gravity change and the coseismic vertical displacement, as measured by one-second and one-day sampling interval GPS units, is also consistent with the theoretical rate of change. Therefore, the GS15 gravimeter at the Pixian Station observed a coseismic gravity change after the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake. This and similar measurements could be applied to test and confirm the theory used for these simulations.

Regularized inversion for coseismic slip distribution with active constraint balancing

Estimating the spatial distribution of coseismic slip is an ill-posed inverse problem, and solutions may be extremely oscillatory due to measurement errors without any constraints on the coseismic slip distribution. In order to obtain stable solution for coseismic slip inversion, regularization method with smoothness-constrained was imposed. Trade-off parameter in regularized inversion, which balances the minimization of the data misfit and model roughness, should be a critical procedure to achieve both resolution and stability. Then, the active constraint balancing approach is adopted, in which the trade-off parameter is regarded as a spatial variable at each model parameter and automatically determined via the model resolution matrix and the spread function. Numerical experiments for a synthetical model indicate that regularized inversion using active constraint balancing approach can provides stable inversion results and have low sensitivity to the knowledge of the exact character of the Gaussian noise. Regularized inversion combined with active constraint balancing approach is conducted on the 2005 Nias earthquake. The released moment based on the estimated coseismic slip distribution is 9.91×1021 N·m, which is equivalent to a moment magnitude of 8.6 and almost identical to the value determined by USGS. The inversion results for synthetic coseismic uniform-slip model and the 2005 earthquake show that smoothness-constrained regularized inversion method combined with active constraint balancing approach is effective, and can be reasonable to reconstruct coseismic slip distribution on fault.

Treatment of discontinuities inside Earth models:Effects on computed coseismic deformations

In this paper,we study how coseismic deformations calculated in 1066 Earth models are affected by how the models treat Earth discontinuities.From the results of applying models 1066A(continuous)and 1066B(discontinuous),we find that the difference in Love numbers of strike-slip and horizontal tensile sources are bigger than dip-slip and vertical tensile sources.Taken collectively,discontinuities have major effects on Green’s functions of four independent sources.For the near-field coseismic deformations of the 2013 Okhotsk earthquake(Mw 8.3),the overall differences between theoretical calculations in vertical displacement,geoid,and gravity changes caused by discontinuities are 10.52 percent,9.07 percent and 6.19 percent,with RMS errors of 0.624 mm,0.029 mm,and 0.063μGal,respectively.The difference in far-field displacements is small,compared with GPS data,and we can neglect this effect.For the shallow earthquake,2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake(Mw 9.0),the differences in near-field displacements are 0.030 m(N-S),0.093 m(E-W),and 0.025 m(up-down)in our study area with the ARIA slip model,which gives results closer to GPS data than those from the USGS model.The difference in vertical displacements and gravity changes on the Earth’s surface caused by discontinuities are larger than 10 percent.The difference in the theoretical gravity changes at spatially fixed points truncated to degrees 60,as required by GRACE data,is 0.0016μGal and the discrepancy is 11 percent,with the theoretical spatial gravity changes from 1066B closer to observations than from 1066A.The results show that an Earth model with discontinuities in the medium has a large effect on the calculated coseismic deformations.

Simulation of coseismic effects of the Ms7. 0 Lushan earthquake

Using plane dislocation theory and the seismic-wave inversion results from the Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration and the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences models, the surface coseismic deformation and gravity changes caused by the 2013 Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake are simulated. The simulations of coseismic gravity change and deformation indicate that the dislocation has dip-slip characteristics. The results also show that the coseismic deformation exhibits a symmetrical, positive-and-negative distribution, with the deformation usually being less than 10 mm in the far- field but up to 140 mm in the near-field. The gravity changes are concentrated on the fault-projection area, which is greatly affected by the vertical surface deformation. The gravity change and vertical deformation in the far field are usually less than and 5 mm, respectively, but reach and 330 mm, respectively, in the near field. The simulated results agree well with the measured resuhs, which suggests a theoretical basis for the observed change in gravity before and after this earthquake.

Far-field coseismic gravity changes related to the 2015 MW7.8 Nepal(Gorkha)earthquake observed by superconducting gravimeters in Chinese mainland

Using data from five SGs at four stations in Chinese mainland,obvious permanent gravity changes caused by the 2015 MW7.8 Nepal(Gorkha)earthquake were detected.We analyzed the gravity effects from ground vertical deformation(VD)using co-site continuous GPS(cGPS)data collocated at the Lijiang and the Wuhan station,and hydrological effects using GLDAS models and groundwater level records.After removing these effects,SG observations before and after the earthquake revealed obvious permanent gravity changes:−3.0μGal,7.3μGal and 8.0μGal at Lhasa,Lijiang and Wuhan station,respectively.We found that the gravity changes cannot be explained by the results of dislocation theory.

The Surface Rupture Zone and Coseismic Deformation Produced by the Yutian Ms7.3 Earthquake of 21 March 2008,Xinjiang

On 21 March 2008, a Ms7.3 earthquake occurred at Quickbird, Yutian County, Xinjiang. We attempt to reveal the features of the causative fault of this shock and its coseismic deformation field. Our work is based on analysis and interpretation to high-resolution satellite images as well as differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar （D-InSAR） data from the satellite Envisat SAR, coupled with seismicity, focal mechanism solutions and active tectonics in this region. The result shows that the 40 km-long, nearly NS trending surface rupture zone by this event lies on a range-front alluvial platform in Qira County. It is characterized by distinct linear traces and simple structure with 1-3-m-wide individual seams and maximum 6.5 m width of a collapse fracture. Along the rupture zone many secondary fractures and fault-bounded blocks are seen, exhibiting remarkable extension. The eoseismic deformation affected a large area 100~100 km2. D-InSAR analysis indicates that the interferometric deformation field is dominated by extensional faulting with a small strike-slip component. Along the causative fault, the western wall fell down and the eastern wall, that is the active unit, rose up, both with westerly vergence. Because of the big deformation gradients near the seismogenic fault, no interference fringes are seen on images, and what can be determined is a vertical displacement 70 cm or more between the two fault walls. According to the epicenter and differential occurrence times from the National Earthquake Information Center, China Earthquake Network Center, Harvard and USGS, it is suggested that the seismic fault ruptured from north to south.