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Large-scale tectonic deformation inferred from small earthquakes

Author

Listed:
  • Falk Amelung

    (Institut de Physique du Globe
    Stanford University)

  • Geoffrey King

    (Institut de Physique du Globe
    Laboratoire de Tectonique)

Abstract

It is a long-standing question whether the focal mechanisms of small earthquakes can be used to provide information about tectonic deformation on a regional scale. Here we address this question by using a 28-year record of seismicity in the San Francisco Bay area to compare the strain released by small earthquakes with geological, geodetic and plate-tectonic measurements of deformation in this region. We show that on a small spatial scale, the strain released by small earthquakes is closely related to specific geological features. But when averaged over a regional scale, strain release more closely follows the regional pattern of tectonic deformation: this relationship holds for all but the largest earthquakes, indicating that the earthquake strain is self-similar1,2 over a broad range of earthquake magnitudes. The lack of self-similarity observed for the largest earthquakes suggests that the time interval studied is not large enough to sample a complete set of events—the fault with the highest probability3 for hosting one such missing event is the Hayward fault.

Suggested Citation

  • Falk Amelung & Geoffrey King, 1997. "Large-scale tectonic deformation inferred from small earthquakes," Nature, Nature, vol. 386(6626), pages 702-705, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:386:y:1997:i:6626:d:10.1038_386702a0
    DOI: 10.1038/386702a0
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    Cited by:

    1. I. Abu El-Nader & H. M. Hussein, 2018. "The present-day active deformation in the central and northern parts of the Gulf of Suez area, Egypt, from earthquake focal mechanism data," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 92(3), pages 1355-1369, July.

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