The characteristics of shear wave splitting in the source region of the April 20,2013 Lushan earthquake

Using seismic data of the aftershocks sequence of the April 20, 2013 Lushan earthquake recorded by seismic temporary and permanent stations in the source region, with the visual inspection of particle motion diagrams, this paper preliminarily contains the polarization directions of fast shear wave and the time-delays of split shear waves at every station, and analyzes the crustal anisotropic characteristics in the source region. In the study area, the polarization direc- tions at stations BAX, TQU, L 132, L 133, L 134, and L 135 are northeast, which is consistent with the strike of Dachuan- Shuangshi fault. There are two polarization directions at MDS and L131, which are northeast and southeast. The scatter of polarization directions suggests the complex stress field around these two stations where two faults intersect. For the normalized time-delays at every station, the range is 1.02-8.64 ms/km. The largest time-delay is from L134 which is closest to the mainshock, and the smallest one is from L133. The variations in time-delays show the decreasing at stations BAX, L134, and L135 because of the stress-relaxation after earthquake.

Geodynamic simulation of the WenChuan Ms8.0 and Lushan Ms7.0 earthquakes

The Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake, occurred on April 20th, 2013, is another strong earthquake that occurred on Longmen Mountain Faults after the Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake. In this paper we construct a finite element model depicting fault frictional mechanism to study the geodynamics of these two strong earthquakes. The locations of the initial rupture points and the dislocation forms of the Wenchuan earthquake and Lushan earthquake are simulated to find out the potential relationship between the two earthquakes. Simulative results show that the elevation, fault geometry, and the different rheological strengths between the Sichuan basin and Tibetan plateau play an important role in the earthquake dynamics. The dynamic simulation shows the initial rupture points are located at Yingxiu county and the rupture process is mainly along the northeast direction for the Wenchuan earthquake. In particular, the different frictional strengths caused by the fluid pressure decrease between the southern and northern segments of Longmenshan faults after the Wenchuan earthquake have affected the initial rupture point and the fault dislocation form of the Lushan earthquake, when considering the thrust of Tibetan plateau to Sichuan basin as the major dynamic source.

High-resolution seismic tomography of the upper crust in the source region of the April 20,2013 Lushan earthquake and its seismotectonic implications

Both P- and S-wave arrivals were collected for imaging upper crustal structures in the source region of the April 20, 2013 Lushan earthquake. High-resolution, three- dimensional P and S velocity models were constructed by travel-time tomography. Moreover, more than 3700 after- shocks of the Lushan earthquake were relocated via a grid search method. The P- and S-wave velocity images of the upper crust show largely similar characters, with high and low velocity anomalies, which mark the presence of sig- nificant lateral and vertical heterogeneity at the source region of the Lushan earthquake. The characteristics of the velocity anomalies also reflect the associated surface geo- logical tectonics in this region. The distributions of high velocity anomalies of both P- and S-waves to 18 km depth are consistent with the distributions of relocated after- shocks, suggesting that most of the ruptures were localized inside the high velocity region. In contrast, low P and S velocities were found in the surrounding regions without aftershocks, especially in the region to the northeast of the Lushan earthquake. For the relocated aftershocks of the Lushan earthquake from this study, we found that mostaftershocks were concentrated in a zone of about 40 km long and 20 km wide, and were located in the hanging wall of Dayi-Mingshan fault. The focal depths of aftershocks increase from the southeast to the northwest region in the direction perpendicular to the fault strike, suggesting that the fault ruptured at an approximate dip angle of 45°. The main depths of the aftershocks in the northwest of the main shock are significantly shallower than expected, revealing the different seismogenic conditions in the source region.

Eastward subduction of the Indian plate beneath the Indo-Myanmese arc revealed by teleseismic P-wave tomography

The deep structure of the eastward-subducting Indian plate can provide new information on the dynamics of the India-Eurasia collision.We collected and processed waveform data from temporary seismic arrays(networks)on the eastern Tibetan Plateau,seismic arrays in Northeast India and Myanmar,and permanent stations of the China Digital Seismic Network in Tibet,Gansu,Qinghai,Yunnan,and Sichuan.We combined these data with phase reports from observation stations of the International Seismological Center on the Indian plate and selected 124,808 high-quality P-wave relative travel-time residuals.Next,we used these data to invert the 3-D P-wave velocity structure of the upper mantle to a depth of 800 km beneath the eastern segment of the arcuate Himalayan orogen,at the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.The results reveal a high-angle,easterly dipping subducting plate extending more than 200 km beneath the Indo-Myanmese arc.The plate breaks off at roughly 96°E;its fragments have passed through the 410-km discontinuity(D410)into the mantle transition zone(MTZ).The MTZ beneath the Tengchong volcanic area contains a high-velocity anomaly,which does not exceed the Red River fault to the east.No other large-scale continuous subducted plates were observed in the MTZ.However,a horizontally spreading high-velocity anomaly was identified on the D410 in some regions.The anomaly may represent the negatively buoyant 90°E Ridge plate or a thickened and delaminated lithospheric block experiencing collision and compression at the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.The Tengchong volcano may originate from the mantle upwelling through the slab window formed by the break-off of the subducting Indian continental plate and oceanic plate in the upper mantle.Low-velocity upper mantle materials on the west side of the Indo-Myanmese arc may have supplemented materials to the Tengchong volcano.

Influence of regional background stress fields on the spontaneous rupture of the major faults around Xiluodu dam,China

Simulations of the spontaneous rupture of potential earthquakes in the vicinity of reservoir dams can provide accurate parameters for seismic resilience assessment,which is essential for improving the seismic performance of reservoir dams.In simulations of potential spontaneous ruptures,fault geometry,regional stress fields,constitutive parameters of the fault friction law,and many other factors control the slip rate,morphology,and dislocation of the rupture,thereby affecting the simulated ground motion parameters.The focus of this study was to elucidate the effects of the background stress field on the nucleation and propagation of spontaneous ruptures based on the factors influencing potential M>7 earthquake events on the Leibo Middle Fault(LBMF)and the Mabian-Yanjing Fault(MB-YJF)in the Xiluodu dam(XLD)region.Our simulation results show that the magnitude of the regional background stress field plays a decisive role in whether a destructive earthquake exceeding the critical magnitude will occur.We found that the direction and magnitude of the regional stress significantly affect the range of rupture propagation on the fault plane,and fault geometry affects the spatial distribution of the rupture range.Under the same regional stress field magnitude and orientation,a more destructive,high-magnitude earthquake is more likely to occur on the LBMF than on the MB-YJF.