Coseismic surface rupture characteristics and earthquake damage analysis of the eastern end of the 2021 M_(S)7.4 Madoi(Qinghai)earthquake

At 02:04 on May 22,2021,an M_(S)7.4 earthquake occurred in Madoi County in Qinghai Province,China.This earthquake is the largest seismic event in China since the 2008M_(S) 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake.Thus,it is critical to investigate surface deformation and damage in time to accurately understand the seismogenic structure of the Madoi earthquake and the seismogenic capacity of the blocks in this region.This study focuses on the Xuema Village,located at the eastern end of the coseismic surface ruptures produced by the event,and assesses the deformation and seismic damage in this area based on field surveys,UAV photogrammetry,and ground penetrating radar(GPR).The results indicate that the rupture scale is substantially smaller at the eastern end of the rupture zone compared to other segments.En echelon type shear tensile fractures are concentrated in a width range of 50–100 m,and the width of single fractures ranges from 20 to 30 cm.In contrast,the degree of seismic damage significantly increases at this site.All of the brick and timber houses are damaged or collapsed,while the steel frame structures and the color steel houses are slightly damaged.More than 80%of the bridge decks on the Changma River Bridge collapse,similar to the terraces along the Youerqu and Changma Rivers and the cut slopes of Provincial Highway S205.We infer that the seismogenic fault of the Madoi earthquake exerts a tail effect in this segment.The tension zone has led to a reduction at the eastern end of the rupture zone,causing shaking damage.Local topography and buildings without earthquake-resistant construction along the strike of the rupture zone have undergone different levels of seismic damage.

Data-driven based variable geometry design

Conventionally,the method to make up for the missing data of middle-shallow layer in the obstacle area is by variable geometry,for example,deviating physical points and adding sources and receivers.And the missing data of middle-shallow layer is evaluated according to the effective coverage of the target layer.Since the traditional method doesn't consider the actual seismic data,it is impossible to actually predict the gap of section and the imaging effect.The paper proposes the evaluation method of data-driven based variable geometry:Firstly,the obstacle avoidance design is realized according to the coordinate range and safe distance of the obstacle area;Secondly,the local similarity of each common image gather(CIG)is calculated,and the contribution of the sources and receivers to the target area is also calculated;Thirdly,according to the variable geometry design,choose the required trace to perform sorting and stacking according to the contribution of the sources and receivers in the CIG,the stack data volume of the whole work area is generated;finally,evaluate the missing data in the obstacle area by the extracted seismic stacked sections in different direction and guide the designer in the infilling plan.Meanwhile,for area with very low signal to noise ratio(SNR),the new method can be used to evaluate the imaging potential and guide the survey design.The new method has achieved very good effect in the production,and the analysis result is very consistent with the processed result of the actual seismic data.

Spatio-temporal variations of shallow seismic velocity changes in Salton Sea Geothermal Field,California in response to large regional earthquakes and long-term geothermal activities

We measure spatio-temporal variations of seismic velocity changes in Salton Sea Geothermal Field,California based on cross correlations of daily seismic traces recorded by a borehole seismic network from December 2007 to January 2014.We find clear co-seismic velocity reductions during the 2010 M 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah,Mexico earthquake at~100 km further south,followed by long-term recoveries.The co-seismic reductions are larger with longer post-seismic recoveries in higher frequency bands,indicating that material damage and healing process mostly occurred in the shallow depth.In addition,the co-seismic velocity reductions are larger for ray paths outside the active fluid injection/extraction regions.The ray paths inside injection/extraction regions are associated with smaller co-seismic reductions,but subtle long-term velocity increases.We also build 3D transient water flow models based on monthly injection/extraction rates,and find correlations between several water flow parameters and co-seismic velocity reductions.We interpret the relative lack of co-seismic velocity changes within the geothermal region as unclogging of fracture network due to persistent fluid flows of geothermal production.The long-term velocity increase is likely associated with the ground water depletion and subsidence due to net production.

Introduction of the 1st Asia-Pacific Geophysics Student Conference(APGSC 2020)

The Asia-Pacific Geophysics Student Conference(APGSC 2020)is the first student-led and student-organized international geophysics conference in the Asia-Pacific region.The theme of APGSC is"Bridging the Gap between Exploration and Solid-Earth Geophysics".This conference is designed to provide a platform for gathering students with different geophysical backgrounds to exchange ideas,show research results,and explore the frontiers of geophysics and related fields.Students could better understand current and future developments of geophysics and build a bridge between exploration and solid-earth geophysics.The 1st Asia Pacific Geophysical Student Conference(APGSC 2020)is successfully held online on September 6-9,2020 Beijing time.This conference is hosted by the University of Science and Technology of China(USTC)and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists(SEG).More than 30 universities and scientific research institutions at home and abroad give strong support as co-organizers.The academic committee of the conference is composed of more than 50 experts and scholars.

Pre-stack AVO inversion with adaptive edge preserving smooth filter regularization based on Aki-Richard approximation

With the development of exploration of oil and gas resources,the requirements for seismic inversion results are getting more accurate.In particular,it is hoped that the distribution patterns of oil and gas reservoirs can be finely characterized,and the seismic inversion results can clearly characterize the location of stratigraphic boundaries and meet the needs of accurate geological description.Specifically,for pre-stack AVO inversion,it is required to be able to distinguish smaller geological targets in the depth or time domain,and clearly depict the vertical boundaries of the geological objects.In response to the above requirements,we introduce the preprocessing regularization of the adaptive edge-preserving smooth filter into the pre-stack AVO elastic parameter inversion to clearly invert the position of layer boundary and improve the accuracy of the inversion results.

Preliminary results on a near-real-time rock slope damage monitoring system based on relative velocity changes following the September 5,2022 M_(S) 6.8 Luding,China earthquake

Relative seismic velocity change(dv/v)is important for monitoring changes in subsurface material properties and evaluating earthquake-induced rock slope damage in a geological disaster-prone region.In this paper,we present a rapid damage assessment on three slow-moving rock slopes by measuring dv/v decrease caused by the 2022 M_(S) 6.8 Luding earthquake in Southwest China.By applying the stretching method to the cross-correlated seismic wavefields between sensors installed on each slope,we obtain earthquake-induced dv/v decreases of~2.1%,~0.5%,and~0.2%on three slopes at distances ranging from~86 to~370 km to the epicenter,respectively.Moreover,based on seismic data recorded by 16 sensors deployed on the rock slope at a distance of~370 km away from the epicenter,a localized dv/v decease region was observed at the crest of the slope by calculating the spatial dv/v images before and after the earthquake.We also derive an empirical in situ stress sensitivity of -7.29×10^(-8)/Pa by relating the dv/v change to the measured peak dynamic stresses.Our results indicate that a rapid dv/v assessment not only can help facilitate on-site emergency response to earthquakeinduced secondary geological disasters but also can provide a better understanding of the subsurface geological risks under diverse seismic loadings.

Rapid report of the 8 January 2022 M_(S)6.9 Menyuan earthquake,Qinghai,China

The M_(S)6.9 Menyuan earthquake in Qinghai Province,west China is the largest earthquake by far in 2022.The earthquake occurs in a tectonically active region,with a background b-value of 0.87 within 100 km of the epicenter that we derived from the unified catalog produced by China Earthquake Networks Center since late 2008.Field surveys have revealed surface ruptures extending 22 km along strike,with a maximum ground displacement of 2.1 m.We construct a finite fault model with constraints from In SAR observations,which showed multiple fault segments during the Menyuan earthquake.The major slip asperity is confined within 10 km at depth,with the maximum slip of 3.5 m.Near real-time back-projection results of coseismic radiation indicate a northwest propagating rupture that lasted for~10 s.Intensity estimates from the back-projection results show up to a Mercalli scale of IX near the ruptured area,consistent with instrumental measurements and the observations from the field surveys.Aftershock locations(up to January 21,2022)exhibit two segments,extending to~20 km in depth.The largest one reaches M_(S)5.3,locating near the eastern end of the aftershock zone.Although the location and the approximate magnitude of the mainshock had been indicated by previous studies based on paleoearthquake records and seismic gap,as well as estimated stressing rate on faults,significant surfacebreaching rupture leads to severe damage of the high-speed railway system,which poses a challenge in accurately assessing earthquake hazards and risks,and thus demands further investigations of the rupture behaviors for crustal earthquakes.

Seismic anisotropy beneath the Chinese Mainland: Constraints from shear wave splitting analyses

We use earthquakes recorded by the China National Seismic Network from 2015 to 2019 and measure shear wave splitting parameters of SKS to study the anisotropic characteristics beneath the mainland of China.In general,the fast directions change from nearly E-W in western China(northwest China and Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau)to nearly N-S in central China(Ordos and Sichuan-Yunnan),and then turn to approximately E-W in eastern China(North and South China).The delay times of slow wave in eastern China are about 1.0-1.7 s,larger than those in central and western China(about 0.6-1.0 s).In addition,the fast directions in eastern China are highly consistent with the plate motion direction and horizontal GPS velocities with respect to Eurasia,indicating that the observed anisotropy is mainly from the asthenosphere which is strongly coupled to the overlying lithosphere.However,the fast directions in western China are mostly in accord with the strike of the surface structures(such as faults),possibly due to the directional arrangement of crystal lattices caused by shear deformation under tectonic activities.

Viscoelastic relaxation of the upper mantle and afterslip following the 2014 M_(W)8.1 Iquique earthquake

An improved understanding of postseismic crustal deformation following large subduction earthquakes may help to better understand the rheological properties of upper mantle and the slip behavior of subduction interface.Here we construct a three-dimensional viscoelastic finite element model to study the postseismic deformation of the 2014 M_(W)8.1 Iquique,Chile earthquake.Elastic units in the model include the subducting slab,continental and oceanic lithospheres.Rheological units include the mantle wedge,the oceanic asthenosphere and upper mantle.We use a 2 km thick weak shear zone attached to the subduction fault to simulate the time-dependent stress-driven afterslip.The viscoelastic relaxation in the rheological units is represented by the Burgers rheology.We carry out grid-searches on the shear zone viscosity,thickness and viscosity of the asthenosphere,and they are determined to be 10^(17)Pa s,110 km and 2×10^(18)Pa s,respectively.The stress-driven afterlsip within the first two years is up to~47 cm and becomes negligible after two years(no more than 5 cm/yr).Our results suggest that a thin,low-viscosity oceanic asthenosphere together with a weak shear zone attached to the fault are required to better reproduce the observed postseismic deformation.

Rapid report of seismic damage to buildings in the 2022 M 6.8 Luding earthquake,China

The report summarizes the observed damage to a variety of buildings near the epicenter of the M6.8 Luding earthquake in Sichuan Province,China.They include base-isolated buildings,multi-story reinforced concrete(RC)frame buildings,and masonry buildings.The near-field region is known to be tectonically highly active,and the local intensity level is the highest,that is,0.4g peak ground acceleration(PGA)for the design basis earthquake,in the Chinese zonation of seismic ground motion parameters.The extent of damage ranged from the weak-story collapse that claimed lives to the extensive nonstructural damage that suspended occupancy.The report highlights the first observation of the destruction of rubber bearings and viscous dampers in the isolation layer of Chinese seismically isolated buildings.It also features the rare observation of the brittle shear failure of RC columns in moment-resisting frames in a region of such a high seismic design requirement.Possible reasons that may have attributed to the reported damage are suggested by providing facts observed in the field.However,careful forensic analyses are needed before any conclusive judgment can be made.

The response law of far-field seismic ground motion of the Wenchuan earthquake and its damaging mechanism in the Loess Plateau

A series of housing collapses and other serious damage was caused by the 2008 Wenchuan M_(S)8.0 earthquake in the seismic intensity Ⅵ areas of the Loess Plateau, which is hundreds of kilometers away from the epicenter, and which showed a remarkable seismic intensity anomaly. The seismic disasters are closely related to the seismic response characteristics of the site, therefore, the systematic study of the far-field seismic response law of the Wenchuan earthquake in the Loess Plateau is of great significance to prevent the far-field disaster of great earthquake. In this paper, the seismic acceleration records of several bedrock stations and loess stations from the seismogenic fault of the Wenchuan earthquake to the Loess Plateau were collected, and the attenuation law of ground motion along the propagation path and the characteristics of seismic response on the loess site are studied,and the mechanism of amplification effect of ground motion is analyzed based on the dynamic feature parameters of the loess site obtained through the HVSR method. Taking a typical loess site of thick deposit as the prototype, a series of shaking table tests of dynamic response of loess site models with different thicknesses were carried out.Amplification effect, spectral characteristics of acceleration in model sites were analyzed under the action of a farfield seismic wave of the Wenchuan earthquake. The results show that seismic attenuation on the propagation path along the NE strike of the seismogenic fault to the Loess Plateau is slower than that in other directions, and the predominant period range of ground motion on bedrock site of the Loess Plateau presents broadband characteristics. Because the natural periods of loess sites with thick deposits are within the predominant period range of bedrock input wave, loess sites appear significant amplification effect of ground motion, the horizontal acceleration of ground motion exceeds 0.1 g, the seismic intensity reaches 7°. The thicker the loess deposit is, the more significant the change of spectral characteristics of ground motion on loess sites, and the narrower the predominant period range of ground motion becomes, and the closer it is to the natural period of loess sites.Therefore, for some old houses on thick loess sites, the poor seismic performance and strong seismic response eventually led to their collapses and damages because their natural periods are very close to the predominant period of ground motion of the Wenchuan earthquake on thick loess sites;For these damaged high-rise buildings,the resonance effect might be the main reason for their damages because their natural periods are included in the predominant period range of ground motion of the Wenchuan earthquake on thick loess sites.These research results would provide a basis for seismic disasters prediction and evaluation and seismic design of construction engineering in the Loess Plateau.

The seismicity in the middle section of the Altyn Tagh Fault system revealed by a dense nodal seismic array

The left-lateral Altyn Tagh Fault(ATF) system is the northern boundary of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, separating the Tarim Basin and the Qaidam Basin. The middle section of ATF has not recorded any large earthquakes since1598 AD, so the potential seismic hazard is unclear. We develope an earthquake catalog using continuous waveform data recorded by the Tarim-Altyn-Qaidam dense nodal seismic array from September 17 to November23, 2021 in the middle section of ATF. With the machine learning-based picker, phase association, location, match and locate workflow, we detecte 233 earthquakes with M_L-1–3, far more than 6 earthquakes in the routine catalog. Combining with focal mechanism solutions and the local fault structure, we find that seismic events are clustered along the ATF with strike-slip focal mechanisms and on the southern secondary faults with thrusting focal mechanisms. This overall seismic activity in the middle section of the ATF might be due to the northeastward transpressional motion of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau block at the western margin of the Qaidam Basin.

A palaeoearthquake event and its age revealed by the travertine layer along the Litang fault in the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

The Litang fault(LTF),located in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,is known for its high level of present-day seismicity,whereas its Pleistocene activity has been scarcely documented.This study focused on a tract of banded travertine deposits precipitated from thermal waters along the NW–SE-trending LTF trace.The role of travertine deposits in recording neotectonic activity has been studied by identifying their internal structure.Typical soft-sediment deformation structures observed within the banded travertines include micro folds,liquefied breccia,and liquefied diapirs.These deformed structures,which are restricted to a single unit separated unconformably by undeformed layers,can be traced for tens of meters,indicating that they were formed by seismic shaking triggered by LTF activity.The deformation of the banded travertine layers is attributed to the combined effects of seismic shaking,liquefaction,and fluidization,and it can be related to a paleo earthquake event with a magnitude of MS>5.The U-series ages obtained from the banded travertine deposits perturbed by the earthquakes are in the range of 130.59–112.94 ka,indicating an important fault-assisted neotectonic activity that occurred during the Middle–Late Pleistocene.Analysis of such structures,in combination with the use of U-series dating methods,can yield a reliable timing of neotectonic activity and provide new evidence for under-standing the seismotectonic setting of the Litang area.

Research progress in geophysical exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet

The Antarctic ice sheet is an important target of Antarctic research.Thickness and structure,including intraice and subice,are closely related to the mass balance of the ice sheet,and play an important role in the study of global sea level and climate change.Subglacial topography is an important basis for studying ice sheet dynamics and ice sheet evolution.This paper briefly reviews the geophysical detection methods and research status of the Antarctic ice sheet:(1)Conventional methods such as ice radar are the main methods for studying the ice sheet today,and passive source seismic methods such as the receiver function method,H/V method and P-wave coda autocorrelation method have good development prospects;(2)the high-resolution(1 km)ice thickness and subglacial topographic database BEDMAP2 established based on various data has greatly improved the ability to detect internal isochronous layers,anisotropic layers,and temperature changes within ice and has advanced research on ice sheet evolution;and(3)ice radar,numerical simulation and core drilling are the main methods to study subglacial lakes and sediments.More than 400 subglacial lakes have been confirmed,and more than 12000 simulation results have been obtained.Research on the Antarctic ice sheet faces enormous challenges and is of great urgency.Aiming at hot issues,such as Antarctic geological evolution,glacial retreat,ice sheet melting and their relationships with global climate change,it is the frontier and trend of future Antarctic ice sheet research to carry out multidisciplinary and multicountry comprehensive geophysical exploration based on the traditional ice radar method combined with passive seismic methods,especially new technologies such as short-period dense array technology,unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence.This is expected to further promote Antarctic research.

Lacustrine sedimentary responses to earthquakes—soft-sediment deformation structures since late Pleistocene:A review of current understanding

The traces left by earthquakes in lacustrine sediments are studied to determine the occurrence of ancient earthquakes by identifying seismically induced soft-sediment deformation structures(SSDS).Dating can help reconstruct the relative frequency of earthquakes.Identifying seismically induced seismites,which carry abundant seismic information from numerous SSDS,is both critical and challenging.Studying the deformation mechanism of SSDS and learning about the common criteria of seismically induced SSDS improve the identification of earthquake triggers.With better research into SSDS,seismic events can be effectively captured,and temporal constraints can be carried out by 14C dating and optically stimulated luminescence(OSL)dating to identify and date the occurrence of ancient earthquakes.The present contribution primarily addresses the meaning and mechanism of SSDS and their relationship with earthquake magnitude as well as the common criteria of the SSDS induced by earthquakes.

The dynamic characteristics of saturated remolded loess under cyclic load

Due to the joint development characteristic and macropore structure of loess,it is easy to cause structure collapse under earthquake or artificial vibration.The study on the loess disaster effect and its mechanism under earthquake action is insufficient due to its complexity.Hence,to study the deformation and mechanical properties more accurately,the dynamic characteristics of saturated remolded loess under cyclic dynamic load were tested using a GDS dynamic triaxial instrument in this paper.The test results show that strain and pore water pressure increase gradually at different rates with the development of vibration,and there is an obvious inflection point in the time-history curve of both.When the number of vibrations(N)exceeds this point,the strain increases rapidly,and pore water pressure tends to be stable.Under the action of large amplitude and low-frequency dynamic load,the strain and pore water pressure increase rapidly with fewer vibrations and the deviator stress(q)decreases rapidly,while the sample achieves damage faster with the increase of amplitude.During the application of a dynamic load,the effective stress(p)gradually decreases and its rate of change slows down.Finally,when the saturated remolded loess is subjected to a constant-amplitude dynamic load,the combination of large amplitude and low frequency leads to the failure of the sample in the shortest time.

Characterization and application of submarine seismic ambient noise in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea

Submarine seismic ambient noise imaging combines current marine and on-land seismic detection technologies.Based on data from several broadband shallow-sea type ocean bottom seismometers(SOBSs)deployed in the Bohai Sea and north Yellow Sea,this paper analyzes the submarine seismic ambient noise characteristics.It explores the theory,technology,method and application of the submarine seismic ambient noise imaging using the single-point horizontal and vertical spectral ratio method(HVSR).The observations yield the following results:1)Submarine seismic ambient noise has consistent and constant energy,making it an appropriate passive seismic source for submarine high-frequency surface wave investigation.2)Using the HVSR approach,a single threecomponent OBS could differentiate between the basement and sediments.Array seismic observation could be utilized to extract the frequency dispersion curve and invert it to obtain the velocity structure for more accurate stratification.3)The SOBS we use is suitable for submarine surface wave exploration.4)Tomography results with greater resolution and deeper penetration could be obtained by combining active and passive sources in a simultaneous inversion of the HVSR and frequency dispersion curve.Seamless land-to-ocean seismic research can be accomplished with submarine seismic ambient noise imaging technologies.

Erratum regarding previously published articles

The publisher would like to draw the reader's attention to the following errors.“An open-accessed inventory of landslides triggered by the MS 6.8 Luding earthquake,China on September 5,2022”(Earthquake Research Advances,2023,3).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eqrea.2022.100181 Received in revised form 14 October 2022.The appropriate Declaration/Conflict of Interest statements,provided by the Authors,are included below.