A note on the surface volume change of shallow earthquakes |
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| Authors: | Steven N Ward |
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| Institution: | C.F. Richter Laboratory, Earth Science Board, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA |
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| Abstract: | Summary. This note presents an exact analytical formula for determining the magnitude of coseismic surface volume change (δ V ) of earthquake faults in a half-space. For a Poisson solid, the formula is remarkably simple; δ V = M zz |8μ, where M zz is one of the moment tensor elements of the source. Maximum δ V values derive from dip slip on faults plunging 45°. For these events, surface volume changes of 0.0001 and 4.3 km3 can be expected for magnitude 5 and 8 earthquakes respectively. All of the coseismic surface volume change is recovered in the interseismic period through relaxation of the Earth and rebound of the surface. A useful rule of thumb for estimating the magnitude of vertical rebound in 45° dip slip events is δ h p=Δ s /24, where Δ s is the coseismic slip on the fault. |
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| Keywords: | earthquake geodesy shallow earthquake faults |
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