Earthquake triggering and delaying caused by fault interaction on Xianshuihe fault belt, southwestern China

The coseismic Coulomb stress change caused by fault interaction and its influences on the triggering and delaying of earthquake are briefly discussed. The Xianshuihe fault belt consists of Luhuo, Daofu, Kangding, Qianning and Ganzi fault. Luohuo (MS=7.6, 1973)-Kangding (MS=6.2, 1975)-Daofu (MS=6.9, 1981)-Ganzi (MS=6.0, 1982) earthquake is a seismic sequence continuous on the time axis with magnitude greater than 6.0. They occurred on the Luhuo, Kangding, Daofu and Ganzi fault, respectively. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes caused by each earthquake on its surrounding major faults and microcracks are calculated, and their effects on the triggering and delaying of the next earthquake and aftershocks are analyzed. It is shown that each earthquake of the sequence occurred on the fault segment with coseismic Coulomb stress increases caused by its predecessors, and most after-shocks are distributed along the microcracks with relatively larger coseismic Coulomb stress increases resulted from the main shock. With the fault interaction considered, the seismic potential of each segment along Xianshuihe fault belt is reassessed, and contrasted with those predicted results ignoring coseismic Coulomb stress change, the significance of fault interaction and its effect on triggering and delaying of earthquake are emphasized. It is con-cluded that fault interaction plays a very important role on seismic potential of Xianshuihe fault belt, and the maximal change of future earthquake probability on fault segment is up to 30.5%.

Stick-slip nucleation triggering of Wenchuan earthquake

The MS8.0 Wenchuan earthquake occurred on May 12 th,2008 on the steeply reverse fault of the Longmen Shan fault zone,Western China.Catastrophic failure and rupture occurred along the listric sliding surface.Several numerical simulations have been performed to reconfigure the dynamic processes of this strong earthquake.However,few scientific studies on the stick-slip of the listric fault have been conducted.In this study,finite element method is utilized to simulate the instant stick-slip fault responses at the triggering moment.The fault surface is a non-continuous and frictional contact interface.The simulation results demonstrated that the sliding friction and sticking friction interact spatially.This interaction occurred temporarily on swarms of slip patches,rather than the entire fault slipping surface.Stick-slip causes serrated energy release,and transient aseismic slip can occur spontaneously.These tremors propagate from the epicenter upwards to the ground surface.Therefore,they may provide important details on earthquake onset rupture.

A Statistical Analysis on Recent Tidal Triggering of the Earthquake in the Tianshan Seismic Zone

A statistical analysis is done to study the spatio-temporai features of earthquake activity in the Tianshan seismic belt triggered by tide, based on Schuster＇s test. The data we choose is the ML ≥2. 0 earthquakes from January 1, 2010 to August 31, 2012 in eastern Tianshan, and the calculation is on tidal body stress. The results show that the p-value based on the time window smoothing of Schuster＇s test corresponds better with the strong earthquakes in the Tianshan seismic belt, especially for a long time before the November 1, 2011 Nilka Ms6. 0 earthquake, when the p-value of the Schuster＇s test was always lower than the threshold of 0. 05 for tidal trigger of earthquake, but after the Niika Ms6. 0 earthquake, that value was quickly restored to a high level, which reflects a close relationship between the Nilka Ms6. 0 earthquake and the Earth tide. According to the p-value based on the spatial window smoothing of Schuster＇s test, the Nilka Ms6. 0 earthquake was at or near the tidal triggering area. Thus we can see from the spatio-temporal results that the Nilka Ms6. 0 earthquake was obviously triggered by Earth fide.

Seismogenic Tectonics and Dynamics of the 2011 Ms5.9 Yingjiang Earthquake in Yunnan, China

In the southern South-North Seismic Zone,China,seismic activity in the Yingjiang area of western Yunnan increased from December 2010,and eventually a destructive earthquake of Ms5.9 occurred near Yingjiang town on 10 March 2011.The focal mechanism and hypocenter location of the mainshock suggest that the Dayingjiang Fault was the site of the mainshock rupture.However,most of foreshocks and all aftershocks recorded by a portable seismic array located close to the mainshock occurred along the N-S-striking Sudian Fault,indicating that this fault had an important influence on these shocks.Coulomb stress calculations show that three strong （magnitude ≥5.0） earthquakes that occurred in the study region in 2008 increased the coulomb stress along the plane parallel to the Dayingjiang Fault.This supports the Dayingjiang Fault,and not the Sudian Fault,as the seismogenic fault of the 2011 Ms5.9 Yingjiang earthquake.The strong earthquakes in 2008 also increased the Coulomb stress at depths of ≤5 km along the entire Sudian Fault,and by doing so increased the shallow seismic activity along the fault.This explains why the foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2011 Yingjiang earthquake were located mostly on the Sudian Fault where it cuts the shallow crust.The earthquakes at the intersection of the Sudian and Dayingjiang faults are distributed mainly along a belt that dips to the southeast at ～40°,suggesting that the Dayingjiang Fault in the mainshock area also dips to the southeast at ～40°.

Evolution of cumulative Coulomb failure stress in northeastern Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau and its effect on large earthquake occurrence

We simulate accumulative Coulomb failure stress change in a layered Maxwell viscoelastic media in the northeastern Qinghai-Xizang （Tibetan） Plateau since 1920. Lithospheric stress/strain evolution is assumed to be driven by dislocations of large earthquakes （M≥7.0） and secular tectonic loading. The earthquake rupture parameters such as the fault rupture length, width, and slip are either adopted from field investigations or estimated from their statistic relationships with the earthquake magnitudes and seismic moments. Our study shows that among 20 large earthquakes （M≥7.0） investigated, 17 occurred in areas where the Coulomb failure stress change is positive, with a triggering rate of 85%. This study provides essential data for the intermediate to long-term likelihood estimation of large earthquakes in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.

An evidence for earthquake ocurence time related with geologic structure──Relations between local mean lunar times of earthquake ocurence and their fault trends

The relation between the local mean lunar time τ of earthquake occurrence and their fault trends is studied in this paper. The local mean lunar times τ of 53 earthquakes in 24 groups are calculated. Because the tidal generation force arisen by the moon is a cyclic function of about 12 hours 25 minutes in the main, the two tidal generation forces anywhere in the earth arising by the moon are equal in general when the moon lies to the two sites of 180° interval of local mean lunar time. Based on this phenomenon the values Δ τ of τ 1- τ 2 or τ 1-τ 2±180° of two earthquakes occurring repetitiously in the same place are also calculated. The calculated results show that if the fault trends of the two earthquakes in the same place is near, the Δ τ is usually smaller and if the fault trends of the two ones is not near, the Δ τ is usually larger and the distribution of the local mean lunar time τ of earthquakes in different places is dispersive even if fault trends of these earthquakes are near, and the τ does not concentrate on the lower and upper transit of the moon. The above phenomena clear up that the triggering earthquake of earth solid tide arisen by the moon is relative with the fault trends of earthquakes and we ought to think over the difference of environmental conditions of earthquake preparation of each seismogenic zone and can not make statistics to earthquakes in different places when we study the relation between the solid earth tide arisen by the moon and earthquakes.

The Nonlinear Influence of Large Celestial Bodies on Earthquakes—Short Commentary

A new study on the nonlinear interaction of the fluctuating planetary gravitational field with the lithosphere suggests that not only the directly acting gravitational forces are of influence, but mainly higher harmonics of the celestial bodies considered as oscillators on large scales [1]. In the meantime, resonances caused by fluctuating gravity can also be detected on small scales in the laboratory [2].

Rushan earthquake swarm in eastern China and its indications of fluid-triggered rupture

An extraordinary earthquake swarm occurred at Rushan on the Jiaodong Peninsula from October 1, 2013, onwards, and more than 12,000 aftershocks had been detected by December 31, 2015. All the activities of the whole swarm were recorded at the nearest station, RSH, which is located about 12 km from the epicenter. We examine the statistical characteristics of the Rushan swarm in this paper using RSH station data to assess the arrival time difference, ts p, of Pg and Sg phases. A temporary network comprising 18 seismometers was set up on May 6, 2014, within the area of the epicenter; based on the data from this network and use of the double difference method, we determine precise hypocenter locations. As the distribution of relocated sources reveals migration of seismic activity, we applied the mean-shift cluster method to perform clustering analysis on relocated catalogs. The results of this study show that there were at least 16 clusters of seismic activities between May 6, 2014, and June 30, 2014, and that each was characterized by a hypocenter spreading process. We estimated the hydraulic diffusivity, D, of each cluster using envelope curve fitting; the results show that D values range between 1.2 and 3.5 m2/d and that approximate values for clusters on the edge of the source area are lower than those within the central area. We utilize an epidemic-type aftershock sequence （ETAS） model to separate external triggered events from self-excited aftershocks within the Rushan swarm. The estimated parameters for this model suggest that α = 1.156, equiva- lent to sequences induced by fluid-injection, and that the forcing rate （μ） implies just 0.15 events per day. These estimates indicate that around 3% of the events within the swarm were externally triggered. The fact that variation in μ is synchronous with swarm activity implies that pulses in fluid pressure likely drove this series of earthquakes.

Giant Landslides Triggered by the 1718 Tongwei Earthquake in Pan'an, Gansu Province, China

Great earthquakes in mountain areas always trigger severe geologic hazards such as landslides, debris flows and rock falls, thereby causing tremendous property damage and casualties. On 19th June, 1781, a Ms 7.5 earthquake occurred in Tongwei of Pan＇an, Gansu Province, west China,

The Identification of Large-Giant Bedrock Landslides Triggered by Earthquake in the Longmenshan Tectonic Belt

The identification of large-giant bedrock landslides triggered by earthquake aims to the landslide prevention and control. Previous studies have described the basic characteristics, distribution, and the formation mechanism of seismic landslides （Bijan Khazai et al., 2003; Chong Xu et al., 2013; Lewis a. Owen et al., 2008; Randall W. Jibson et al., 2006）. However, few researches have focused on the early identification indicators of large-giant bedrock landslides triggered by earthquake （David k. Keefer., 1984; Janusz Wasowski et al., 2011; Alexander L.Strom., 2009; Patrick Meunier et al., 2008; Shahriar Vahdani et al., 2002; Bijan Khazai et al., 2003）. This paper presents the identification indicators of large-giant bedrock landslides triggered by earthquake in the Longmenshan tectonic belt on the basic of their characteristics, distribution and the relationship between seismic landslides and the peak ground motion acceleration.

3-D finite element modeling for evolution of stress field and interaction among strong earthquakes in Sichuan-Yunnan region

Based on the latest achievement about activities of geological structure, a 3-D finite-element model containing four layers of upper crust, lower crust (two layers) and upper mantle is established in the paper. By repeated tests and revisions, the boundary conditions of the model are determined. And then the background stress field, the stress field caused by fault creep and the stress field triggered by strong earthquake in Sichuan-Yunnan region, as well as their dynamic variations are calculated. The results indicate that the latter earthquake often occurs in the area with positive Coulomb rupture stress change associated with the former one, the former earthquake has a triggering effect on the latter one to a certain extent, and strong earthquake often occur in groups under the background of high stress, which is of great significance for distinguishing seismic anomalies, as well as for improving the level of earthquake prediction.

Preliminary analysis for the roles of crustal low-velocity and high-conductivity body in process of strong earthquake preparation

In this paper, the roles of low velocity and high conductivity body inside the crust in the process of strong earth quake preparation are approached by using theoretical analysis method based on the comprehensive researches on the fine structure of strong seismic source in the North China. The following results are obtained. The low-velocity and high-conductivity body plays the promoting role for the action of deep-seated structure in the medium stage of earthquake preparation, except that its existence is advantageous to the stress concentrating in the overlying brittle layer during the process of earthquake preparation. And it plays the triggering role for the occurrence of strong earthquake in the later stage of earthquake preparation.

Aftershock of the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan Triggers Large Earthquake in Minxian County, Gansu

Because of the confining compression of the Pacific, Eurasian and Indian plates, the Chinese mainland is frequently stricken with earthquakes, especially in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and surrounding areas and along the NS-trending tectonic zone from Yinchuan to Lanzhou, Chengdu, and finally to the Kunming tectonic belt （Fig. 1）. Historical records show that there are 14 earthquakes of 〉Ms 8 occurring in the two regions, eight of which occurred along the latter tectonic belt. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake located on both the NS tectonic zone and the Longmenshan fault zone along the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Landslides and Slope Fissures Triggered by the April 14,2010 Yushu Earthquake, China

On April 14, 2010 at 07：49 （Beijing time）, a catastrophic earthquake with Ms 7. 1 occurred at the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The epicenter was located at Yushu county, Qinghai Province, China. A total of 2036 landslides were determined from visual interpretation of aerial photographs and high resolution remote sensing images, and verified by selected field investigations. These landslides covered a total area of about 1. 194km~. Characteristics and failure mechanisms of these landslides are listed in this paper, including the fact that the spatial distribution of these landslides is controlled by co- seismic main surface fault ruptures. Most of the landslides were small scale, causing rather less hazards, and often occurring close to each other. The landslides were of various types, including mainly disrupted landslides and rock falls in shallows and also deep-seated landslides, liquefaction induced landslides, and compound landslides. In addition to strong ground shaking, which is the direct landslide triggering factor, geological, topographical, and human activity also have impact on the occurrence of earthquake triggered landslides. In this paper, five types of failure mechanisms related to the landslides are presented, namely, the excavated toes of slopes accompanied by strong ground shaking; surface water infiltration accompanied by strong ground shaking; co- seismic fault slipping accompanied by strong ground shaking; only strong ground shaking; and delayed occurrence of landslides due to snow melt or rainfall infiltration at sites where slopes were weakened by co-seismic ground shaking. Besides the main co-seismic surface ruptures, slope fissures were also delineated from visual interpretation of aerial photographs in high resolution. A total of 4814 slope fissures, with a total length up to 77. lkm, were finally mapped. These slope fissures are mainly distributed on the slopes located at the southeastern end of the main co-seismic surface rupture zone, an area subject to strong compression during the earthquake.

Regional seismicity triggered by the HyogoKen Nanbu, Japan, M=7.2 earthquake on January 17, 1995

The time and spatial feature of the regional seismicity triggered by the Hyogo-Ken Nanbu, Japan, M=7.2 earthquake on January 17, 1995, was studied. The concerned region is about several hundred kilometers in length and breadth surrounding the epicenter (33°-37°N, 133°-138°E). It is divided into 16 subregions. The seismicity of these subregions from January of 1976 to June of 1996 has been analyzed. It is showed that, 1) there were significant seismicity changes in 10 subregions triggered by the Hyogo-Ken Nanbu, Japan, M=7.2 earthquake on January 17, 1995. These changes passed a Z statistic test exceeding 0.95 confidence level and the greatest epicenter distance of these subregions was 280 km; 2) seismicity changes were triggered within 1-5 days in three subregions near the main shock while in other subregions the seismicity changes were triggered within several ten days after the main shock; 3) the greatest triggered event is 5.4, which is about the same size as the greatest aftershock; 4) the regional stress change resulted from the main shock may be the triggered mechanism of the regional seismicity.

Earthquakes induced by deep penetrating bombing

The data of M≥5 earthquakes occurred in one year before and after 4 deep penetrating bombs in the region within 500 km and 1 000 km from the shooting site are presented. The 4 bombs are those happened in 1999 Kosovo of Yugoslavia, the 1991 Baghdad of Iraq, the 2001 Tora Bora of Afghanistan, and the 2003 Kirkuk of Iraq, respec-tively. The data indicate that the deep penetrating bombs may have remotely triggered some earthquakes. The deep penetrating bombs in seismically active regions should be forbidden.

Evidence of earthquakes triggered by the tidal force of the sun and the moon——On the temporal characteristics of the earthquakes in Xingtai,Hejian and Tangshan

Studies by many scientists show that Hebei, China is an area with strong correlation between the tidal force and the occurrences of major earthquakes, the Xingtai earthquake of 1966, the Hejian earthquake of 1967 and the Tangshan earthquake of 1976 were triggered by the tidal force, in this paper the study on the common characteristics of their occurrence times confirms these facts. The computed times of maximum horizontal of the semi diurnal solid tide tidal force show that the occurrence times of the above mentioned earthquakes were close to the times of maximum horizontal tidal force of the semi diurnal solid tide at new moon or full moon. The Longyao earthquake of M =6.8, the Ningjin earthquake of M =7.2 and the Hejian earthquake of M =6.3 occurred tens of minutes after the maximum horizontal tidal force of the semi diurnal solid tides, and the Tangshan earthquake of M =7.8 occurred 16 minutes before the maximum horizontal tidal force. The tidal forces were directed to the west. This is their temporal characteristic. It is generally accepted that the 1969 Bohai earthquake of M =7.4 and the 1975 Haicheng earthquake were not triggered by the tidal force. These events did not show such characteristics. The temporal characteristics of the earthquakes indicate that the occurrences of these events were not random, but were controlled by the tidal force from the sun and the moon, and triggered by the tidal force. These facts agree with the triggering mechanism of the tidal force, are evidences of earthquakes triggered by tidal force.

New Insight into the Surface Rupture Parameters of the Kunlun Mountains Pass M_S8.1 Earthquake

Field observation shows that the surface rupture of the Kunlun Mountains Pass M_S 8.1 earthquake is about 426km long, and the maximum sinistral displacement is about 6m. Distribution of horizontal displacement along the surface ruptures is markedly controlled by fault structure. The rupture length of this earthquake is significantly longer than statistic value. In this paper, using the method of “ultimate linear strain", we discussed the independency and integrality of the whole rupture zone and rupture segments of the Kunlun Mountains Pass earthquake by comparing with some large earthquakes on strike-slip faults on the Chinese continent. The conclusion is that the Kunlun Mountains Pass earthquake consists of successively triggered multiple earthquake events, other than a single earthquake event.

Evolution of Coulomb failure stress in Sulaiman Lobe,Pakistan,and its implications for seismic hazard assessment

In this research work,we present the evolution of Coulomb failure stress(CFS)in the Sulaiman Lobe and its implications for seismic hazard assessment.The Chaman transform fault,~1,000 km long,is the major active fault that marks the western boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the Indian Plate.To date,few studies have been conducted to unveil the interactions among earthquakes and the implications of these interactions for seismic hazard assessment in the region.We thoroughly investigated the published and online catalog to construct a sequence of major earthquakes that occurred in this region during the past.The final earthquake sequence was composed of 15 earthquakes of M_(w)≥6.0,beginning with the 1888 earthquake.We used the stress-triggering theory to numerically simulate the evolution of CFS caused by these earthquakes.The numerical results revealed that 8 out of 15earthquakes were triggered by the preceding earthquakes.The earthquakes in 1908,1910,1935,1966,and 1997 were rather independent earthquakes in this sequence.Although the epicenters of the 1975a and 1975b earthquakes were in the stress shadow zone,the partial rupture segments of both these earthquakes were in high-CFS regions.The CFS induced by the 1935 earthquake was notable,as it later triggered the 2008 doublet.Moreover,our results revealed that the northern segment of the Chaman Fault,the southern segment of the Ghazaband Fault,and the northwestern segment of the Urghargai Fault demonstrated a high change in CFS that could trigger seismicity in these regions.The necessary arrangements must therefore be made to mitigate any possible seismic hazards in the region.

The stress field variation caused by faulting and the prediction for seismic risk

The stress field caused by faulting has an effect on the stability of the neighboring faults, and the study on the fault interaction has a close relation with the prediction of seismic risk. Stress field caused by the rectangle fault in the semi-infinite elastic medium is calculated on the basis of the elastic dislocation theory. The result shows that most of the successive large earthquakes, in the southwestern part of China and North China, occurred in the increasing area of shear stress S(xy) and the decreasing area of normal stress S(yy) The increasing of earthquake occurrence probability has a function relation with the increasing of stress. Earthquake triggering is resulted from the increasing of shear stress and the decreasing of normal stress. An activation coefficient A, of the earthquake is defined to express the change of seismic activity. The concrete risk region can be obtained through space scanning of At value. Finally, the fault interaction in a large scope is discussed in this paper.