One feature of the activated southern Ordos block:the Ziwuling small earthquake cluster

Small earthquakes （Ms〉2.0） have been recorded from 1970 to the present day and reveal a significant diffrence in seismicity between the stable Ordos block and its active surrounding area. The southern Ordos block is a conspicuous small earthquake belt clustered and isolated along the NNW direction and extends to the inner stable Ordos block; no active fault can match this small earthquake cluster. In this paper, we analyze the dynamic mechanism of this small earthquake cluster based on the GPS velocity field （from 1999 to 2007） , which are mainly from Crustal Movement Observation Network of China （CMONOC） with respect to the north and south China blocks. The principal direction of strain rate field, the expansion ratefield, the maximum shear strain rate, and the rotation rate were constrained using the GPS velocity field. The results show that the velocity field, which is bounded by the small earthquake cluster from Tongchuan to Weinan, differs from the strain rate field, and the crustal deformation is left-lateral shear. This left-lateral shear belt not only spatially coincides with the Neo-tectonic belt in the Weihe Basin but also with the NNW small earthquake cluster （the Ziwuling small earthquake cluster）. Based on these studies, we speculate that the NNW small earthquake cluster is caused by left-lateral shear slip, which is prone to strain accumulation. When the strain releases along the weak zone of structure, small earthquakes diffuse within its upper crust. The maximum principal compression stress direction changed from NE-SW to NEE-SWW, and the former reverse faults in the southwestern margin of the Ordos block became a left-lateral strike slip due to readjustment of the tectonic stress field after the middle Pleistocene. The NNW Neo-tectonie belt in the Weihe Basin, the different movement character of the inner Weihe Basin （which was demonstrated through GPS measurements） anti the small earthquake cluster belt reflect the activated southern margin of the Ordos block, which was generated through readjustment of the tectonic stress field after the middle Pleistocene.

Application of fuzzy clustering method to determining sub-fault planes of earthquake from aftershocks sequence

Earthquake rupture process generally involves several faults activities instead of a single fault A new method using both fuzzy clustering and principal component analysis makes it possible to reconstruct three dimensional structure of involved faults in earthquake if the aftershocks around the active fault planes distribute uniformly. When seismic events are given, the optimal faults structures can be determined by our new method. Each of sub-fault planes is fully characterized by its central location, length, width, strike and dip. The resolution determines the number of fault segments needed to describe the earthquake catalog. The higher the resolution, the finer the structure of the reconstructed fault segments. The new method successfully reconstructs the fault segments using synthetic earthquake catalogs. By taking the 28 June 1992 Landers earthquake oceured in southern California as an example, the reconstructed fault segments are consistent with the faults already known on geological maps or blind faults that appeared quite frequently in longer-term catalogs.