An earthquake sequence studied with ocean-bottom seismographs |
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| Authors: | I Reid W A Prothero |
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| Institution: | Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia;Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | Summary. A tripartite ocean-bottom seismograph array at the junction of the East Pacific Rise and Rivera Fracture Zone recorded an eathquake sequence, consisting of three main shocks ( m B= 4.3, 4.3 and 4.8) and numerous aftershocks from the fracture zone, in the distance range 35–50 km. Delineation of the rupture zones by aftershocks indicates that the first two main shocks took place on overlapping fault areas, while the third occurred over a fault area separated from the first by several kilometres. Both rupture zones were about 4 km long. Surface wave spectra indicate a shallow (about 3 km below the sea floor) source, as does OBS array phase velocity data. The seismic moments, obtained from teleseismic surface wave data, of 1.3, 2.1 and 2.8 × 1023 dyn cm, with the fault areas as delineated by aftershocks, imply a stress drop of about 8 bars for the main shocks. Aftershock sequences of each of the main shocks are similar, with a b -value of about 0.65. Teleseismic P travel times are similar to those from near-surface sources in Nevada. |
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