ALBERT

Description: In this study, we have systematically investigated the influence of the parameters of the slip-weakening law and the size of nucleation asperity on dynamic rupture of a planar fault in full-space and half-space using the boundary integral equation method, in particular, the occurrence conditions for subshear (or sub-Rayleigh for strike-slip rupture) and supershear ruptures. Besides the well-known rupture styles of subshear (or sub-Rayleigh) and supershear, we defined a new kind of rupture style in this study, termed the ‘self-arresting rupture’, for which the rupture process can be autonomously arrested by itself without any outside interference (e.g. a high strength barrier). Based on the vast number of simulations, we obtained rupture phase diagrams for strike-slip and dip-slip ruptures vertically and obliquely embedded in half-space and full-space with different buried depths. The rupture phase diagram clearly illustrates the occurrence conditions of three kinds of rupture styles and the transitions between them. In full-space, the supershear transition is sensitive with the fault width. Owing to the influence of the free surface, the rupture in half-space becomes much more complicated comparing to the one in full-space. For a strike-slip fault with zero buried depth, all ruptures that occur within the parameter range for sub-Rayleigh ruptures in full-space case become supershear ruptures. This means that as long as a rupture is able to grow incessantly, it will always evolve into a supershear rupture. For dip-slip faults, however, ruptures will always propagate with subshear speed, although slip rate could be almost twice that of a strike-slip fault. Although the influence of the free surface is strong, it is limited to very shallow ruptures (i.e. buried depth 〈1 km). The rupture phase diagram discussed in this study could provide a new insight on earthquake rupture mechanics.