Publication Date:
2018-10-02
Description:
Fracture damage patterns around faults induced by dynamic earthquake rupture are an invaluable record to clarify the rupture process on complex fault networks. The 2016 M w 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand has been reported as one of the most complex earthquakes ever documented that ruptured at least 15 crustal faults. High-resolution optical satellite image displacement maps provide distinctive profiles of displacement across the faults and help visualize the off-fault damage pattern. They are combined with field observation and coupled with a numerical tool that captures the dynamics of the rupture and simultaneous activation of off-fault damage to allow the determination of the most likely rupture scenario. This study demonstrates that complex rupture processes can be explained in a rather simple way via a synergetic combination of state-of-the-art observation and first principle physics-based numerical modeling of off-fault damage. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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