ALBERT

Description: No major earthquake occurred in North Chile since the 1877 Mw 8.6 subduction earthquake that produced a huge tsunami. However, geodetic measurements conducted over the last decade in this area show that the upper plate is actually deforming, which reveals some degree of locking on the subduction interface. This accumulation of elastic deformation is likely to be released in a future earthquake. Because of the long elapsed time since 1877 and the rapid accumulation of deformation (thought to be 6–7 cm yr−1), many consider this area is a mature seismic gap where a major earthquake is due and seismic hazard is high. We present a new Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field, acquired between 2008 and 2012, that describes in some detail the interseismic deformation between 18°S and 24°S. We invert for coupling distribution on the Nazca-South America subduction interface using elastic modelling. Our measurements require that, at these latitudes, 10 to 12 mm yr−1 (i.e. 15 per cent of the whole convergence rate) are accommodated by the clockwise rotation of an Andean block bounded to the East by the subandean fold-and-thrust belt. This reduces the accumulation rate on the subduction interface to 56 mm yr−1 in this area. Coupling variations on the subduction interface both along-strike and along-dip are described. We find that the North Chile seismic gap is segmented in at least two highly locked segments bounded by narrow areas of weak coupling. This coupling segmentation is consistent with our knowledge of the historical ruptures and of the instrumental seismicity of the region. Intersegment zones (Iquique, Mejillones) correlate with high background seismic rate and local tectonic complexities on the upper or downgoing plates. The rupture of either the Paranal or the Loa segment alone could easily produce a Mw 8.0–8.3 rupture, and we propose that the Loa segment (from 22.5°S to 20.8°S) may be the one that ruptured in 1877.

Description: The recent expansion of dense GPS networks over plate boundaries allows for remarkably precise mapping of interseismic coupling along active faults. The interseismic coupling coefficient is related to the ratio between slipping velocity on the fault during the interseismic period and the long-term plates velocity, but the interpretation of coupling in terms of mechanical behavior of the fault is still unclear. Here, we investigate the link between coupling and seismicity over the Chilean subduction zone that ruptured three times in the last 5 years with major earthquakes (Maule Mw 8.8 in 2010, Iquique Mw 8.1 in 2014 and Illapel Mw 8.4 in 2015). We combine recent GPS data acquired over the margin (38°–18°S) with older data to get the first nearly continuous picture of the interseismic coupling variations on the subduction interface. Here, we show that at least six low coupling zones (LCZ), areas where coupling is low relatively to the neighboring highly coupled segments can be identified. We also find that for the three most recent Mw 〉 8 events, co-seismic asperities correlate well with highly coupled segments, while LCZs behaved as barriers and stopped the ruptures. The relation between coupling and background seismicity in the interseismic period before the events is less clear. However, we note that swarm sequences are prone to occur in intermediate coupling areas at the transition between LCZ and neighboring segments, and that the background seismicity tends to concentrate on the downdip part of the seismogenic locked zone. Thus, highly coupled segments usually exhibit low background seismicity. In this overall context, the Metropolitan segment that partly ruptured during the 2015 Illapel earthquake appears as an outlier since both coupling and background seismicity were high before the rupture, raising the issue of the remaining seismic hazard in this very densely populated area.

Description: Segmentation can influence the extent of earthquake rupture and event magnitude1: large megathrust earthquakes result from total rupture of relatively continuous segments of the subduction interface2, 3, 4, 5. Segmentation is attributed to variations in the frictional properties of the seismogenic zone or to topographic features on the down-going plate6, 7, 8, 9. Structures in the overriding plate may also influence segmentation10, 11, 12, 13, but their importance has been dismissed. Here, we investigate the links between interface segmentation at the North Chile seismic gap14 and a crustal-scale fault structure in the overriding plate that forms a coastal scarp of about 1 km in height10, 15. We use satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) data to measure interseismic surface deformation between 2003 and 2009 and compare the deformation with rupture extent during well-documented earthquakes5, 16, 17, 18. From these data we infer the degree of coupling and segmentation at depth. We find that along a 500-km-long segment, the base of the strongly coupled seismogenic zone correlates with the line of the surface coastal scarp and follows the outline of the Mejillones Peninsula. This correlation implies that large-scale structures in the overriding plate can influence the frictional properties of the seismogenic zone at depth. We therefore suggest that the occurrence of megathrust earthquakes in northern Chile is controlled by the surface structures that build Andean topography.

Description: The Maule earthquake of 27th February 2010 (Mw=8.8) affected ~500 km of the Nazca-South America plate boundary in south-central Chile producing spectacular crustal deformation. Here, we present a detailed estimate of static coseismic surface offsets as measured by survey and continuous GPS, both in near- and farfield regions. Earthquake slip along the megathrust has been inferred from a joint inversion of our new data together with published GPS, InSAR, and land-level changes data using Green's functions generated by a spherical finite-element model with realistic subduction zone geometry. The combination of the data sets provided a good resolution, indicating that most of the slip was well resolved. Coseismic slip was concentrated north of the epicenter with up to 16 m of slip, whereas to the south it reached over 10m within two minor patches. A comparison of coseismic slip with the slip deficit accumulated since the last great earthquake in 1835 suggests that the 2010 event closed a mature seismic gap. Slip deficit distribution shows an apparent local overshoot that highlight cycle-to-cycle variability,which has to be taken into accountwhen anticipating future events from interseismic observations. Rupture propagation was obviously not affected by bathymetric features of the incoming plate. Instead, splay faults in the upper plate seem to have limited rupture propagation in the updip and along-strike directions. Additionally, we found that along-strike gradients in slip are spatially correlated with geometrical inflections of the megathrust. Our study suggests that persistent tectonic features may control strain accumulation and release along subduction megathrusts.

Description: EPOS-GNSS is the Thematic Core Service being implemented in the framework of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) focused on management and dissemination of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) Data and Products for Solid Earth Applications. The GNSS community in the Mediterranean area is benefiting from EPOS-GNSS to create mechanisms and procedures to harmonize, in collaboration with other pan-European infrastructures (particularly EUREF), the access to GNSS data, metadata and derived products (time-series, velocities, and strain rate maps) that primarily are the interest of the Solid Earth community. In this presentation we focus on the current status of the EPOS-GNSS services and products being developed and implemented to serve the scientific and technical communities. We discuss in particular: (a) the data dissemination through the EPOS-GNSS data portal that is controlled by state-of-art quality control procedures; (b) the dedicated software package developed for the dissemination of GNSS data and products with rigorous quality control procedures; (c) dedicated products (time-series, velocities and strain-rates) created from the available data set.