Effective relaxation time and viscosity of the earth inferred from the postseismic vertical deformations of the 1990 MS=7.0 Gonghe earthquake

The postseismic vertical deformation rates of the 1990 Gonghe M S=7.0 earthquake appears to have decreased exponentially. Based on Okada′s coseismic surface displacement solution caused by a uniform fault slip in an elastic homogeneous half space, we derived its postseismic surface displacement by using a single layer standard linear solid model, and further derived a simplified formula for determining the effective relaxation time and viscosity of the earth, which is independent of the dislocation parameters of the causative fault. From the postseismic vertical deformation of the 1990 Gonghe earthquake, we inferred that the effective relaxation time defined by τ = η/μ is 2.6 years, and the effective viscosity η is about 10 18 Pa·s.

Source time functions of the Gonghe，China earthquake retrieved from long－period digital waveform data using empirical Green＇s function technique

An earthquake of Ms= 6, 9 occurred at the Gonghe, Qinghai Province, China on April 26, 1990. Three larger aftershocks took place at the same region, Ms= 5. 0 on May 7, 1990, Ms= 6. 0 on Jan. 3, 1994 and Ms= 5. 7on Feb. 16, 1994. The long-period recordings of the main shock from China Digital Seismograph Network (CDSN) are deconvolved for the source time functions by the correspondent0 recordings of the three aftershocks asempirical Green's functions (EGFs). No matter which aftershock is taken as EGF, the relative source time functions (RSTFs) Obtained are nearly identical. The RSTFs suggest the Ms= 6. 9 event consists of at least two subevents with approximately equal size whose occurrence times are about 30 s apart, the first one has a duration of 12 s and a rise time of about 5 s, and the second one has a duration of 17 s and a rise time of about & s. COmParing the RSTFs obtained from P- and SH-phases respectively, we notice that those from SH-phases are a slightly more complex than those from p-phases, implying other finer subevents exist during the process of the main shock. It is interesting that the results from the EGF deconvolution of long-Period way form data are in good agreement with the results from the moment tensor inversion and from the EGF deconvolution of broadband waveform data. Additionally, the two larger aftershocks are deconvolved for their RSTFs. The deconvolution results show that the processes of the Ms= 6. 0 event on Jan. 3, 1994 and the Ms= 5. 7 event on Feb. 16,1994 are quite simple, both RSTFs are single impulses.The RSTFs of the Ms= 6. 9 main shock obtained from different stations are noticed to be azimuthally dependent, whose shapes are a slightly different with different stations. However, the RSTFs of the two smaller aftershocks are not azimuthally dependent. The integrations of RSTFs over the processes are quite close to each other, i. e., the scalar seismic moments estimated from different stations are in good agreement. Finally the scalar seismic moments of the three aftershocks are compared. The relative scalar seismic moment Of the three aftershocks deduced from the relative scalar seismic moments of the Ms=6. 9 main shock are very close to those inverted directly from the EGF deconvolution. The relative scalar seismic moment of the Ms =6. 9 main shock calculated using the three aftershocks as EGF are 22 (the Ms= 6. 0 aftershock being EGF), 26 (the Ms= 5. 7 aftershock being EGF) and 66 (the Ms= 5. 5 aftershock being EGF), respectively. Deducingfrom those results, the relative scalar sesimic moments of the Ms= 6. 0 to the Ms= 5. 7 events, the Ms= 6. 0 tothe Ms= 5. 5 events and the Ms= 5. 7 to the Ms= 5. 5 events are 1. 18, 3. 00 and 2. 54, respectively. The correspondent relative scalar seismic moments calculated directly from the waveform recordings are 1. 15, 3. 43, and 3. 05.

Source parameters of the Gonghe,Qinghai Province,China,earthquake from inversion of digital broadband waveform data

An earthquake of M S=6.9 occurred in Gonghe County, Qinghai Province, China on April 26, 1990.This earthquake was followed by three larger aftershocks of M S=5.5 on May 7, 1990, M S=6.0 on Jan.3, 1994, and M S=5.7 on Feb.16, 1994, consecutively. The moment tensors of these earthquakes as function of time were obtained by the technique of moment tensor inversion in frequency domain . The results inverted indicate that these earthquakes had a very similar focal mechanism of predominantly reverse faulting on a plane striking NWW, dipping to SSW.The scalar seismic moments of these earthquakes are M 0=9.4×10 18 Nm for the M S=6.9 event, 8.0×10 16 Nm for the M S=5.5 event, 4.9×10 17 Nm for the M S =6.0 event and 2.9×10 17 Nm for the M S=5.7 event, respectively. The results inverted also show that the source processes of these events were significantly different. The main shock had a very complex process, consisting of two distinct sub events with comparable sizes. The first sub event occurred in the first 12s, having a seismic moment of 4.7×10 18 Nm, and the second one continued from 31s to 41s, having a seismic moment of 2.5×10 18 Nm. In addition, a much smaller sub event, having a seismic moment of about 2.1×10 18 Nm, may exist in the interval of 12 s and 31 s, In contrast, the source processes of the three aftershocks are quite simple. The source time function of each of aftershocks is a single impulse, suggestting that each of aftershocks consists of a mainly uninterrupted rupture. The rise times and total rupture durations are 4 s and 11 s for the M S=5.5 event, 6 s and 16 s for the M S= 6.0 event and 6 s and 13 s for the M S=5.7 event, respectively.

Numerical simulation of precursors of Gonghe M7.0 earthquake in Qinghai Province

Based on a simplified media model of Gonghe area, the precursor characteristics of Gonghe M 7.0 earthquake in 1990 are simulated in this paper by using the constitutive relationship of binary medium (solid and water). The results show that the simulated state distribution and extension variation of media are identical with the spatial and temporal distribution of reliable anomalies before Gonghe earthquake. The study also suggests that the development of the Gonghe earthquake has experienced a series of processes such as elastic deformation of large scale, early nonelastic dilatation, strain softening and elastic recovery in the neighbour region of Xining, nonelasscale, early nonelastic dilatation, strain softening and elastic recovery in the neighbour region of nonelastic dilatation of high dense block near seismic source and earthquake occurrence. Therefore, it can be concluded that this earthquake development is neither a simple process for fissures developing and linking up with one another, nor a process of nonelastic volume expanion and water flowing into medium around seismic source, conrary, it is a complicated medium saate changing process, and the style of such changing depends on geological structure environment of seismic source and its neighbour region. It is considered that different earthquakes are accompanied by different geological conditions, the spatial and temporal behavior of their precusors are certainly different.

Cround vertical deformation in earthquake of Gonghe,Qinghai Province

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Dislocation parameters of Gonghe earthquake jointly inferred by using genetic algorithms and least squares method

The Second Crustal Deformation Monitoring Center, China Seismological Bureau, has detected a marked uplift associated with the Gonghe Ms=7.0 earthquake on April 26, 1990, Qinghai Province. From the observed vertical deformations and using a rectangular uniform slip model in a homogeneous elastic half space, we first employ genetic algorithms (GA) to infer the approximate global optimal solution, and further use least squares method to get more accurate global optimal solution by taking the approximate solution of GA as the initial parameters of least squares. The inversion results show that the causative fault of Gonghe Ms=7.0 earthquake is a right-lateral reverse fault with strike NW60°, dip SW and dip angle 37°, the coseismic fracture length, width and slip are 37 km, 6 km and 2.7 m respectively. Combination of GA and least squares algorithms is an effective joint inversion method, which could not only escape from local optimum of least squares, but also solve the slow convergence problem of GA after reaching adjacency of global optimal solution.

Deformation datum in source mechanism inversion

Based on the analyses of geodetic deformation datum, the concepts of real datum and relative datum of displacements associated with an earthquake are put foward. Introducting a deformation datum parameter into model parameter vector can enable the reference station to be set in the epicentral areas. Two improved inversionmethods, the deformation datum parameter (DDP) method and deformation difference (DD) method, are advanced in this paper. They are further applied to dislocation model inversion of the 1990 Gonghe Ms7.0 earthquake. The inversion results inferred by using the two methods are well consistent with each other, which basically reflect the source geometry and the slip of the causative fault.