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    12 May 2008 M = 7.9 Wenchuan, China, earthquake calculated to increase failure stress and seismicity rate on three major fault systems

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    Article (521.3Kb)
    Additional file information (1.638Kb)
    Figure S1: Sensitivity of the calculated stress transfer to assumed fault friction and calculation depth. (22.99Mb)
    Figure S2: Expected rates of the M33.2 earthquakes calculated by rate/state stress transfer and probabilities for the M36.0 and M37.0 earthquakes for the next 10 years within the entire 750 × 770 km map frame. (22.99Mb)
    Text S1: Methodology and parameter assumptions. (301.0Kb)
    Text S1: Methodology and parameter assumptions. (11.48Kb)
    Date
    2008-09-09
    Author
    Toda, Shinji  Concept link
    Lin, Jian  Concept link
    Meghraoui, Mustapha  Concept link
    Stein, Ross S.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/3372
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL034903
    DOI
    10.1029/2008GL034903
    Keyword
     Coulomb stress; Earthquake probability; Stress transfer 
    Abstract
    The Wenchuan earthquake on the Longmen Shan fault zone devastated cities of Sichuan, claiming at least 69,000 lives. We calculate that the earthquake also brought the Xianshuihe, Kunlun and Min Jiang faults 150–400 km from the mainshock rupture in the eastern Tibetan Plateau 0.2–0.5 bars closer to Coulomb failure. Because some portions of these stressed faults have not ruptured in more than a century, the earthquake could trigger or hasten additional M > 7 earthquakes, potentially subjecting regions from Kangding to Daofu and Maqin to Rangtag to strong shaking. We use the calculated stress changes and the observed background seismicity to forecast the rate and distribution of damaging shocks. The earthquake probability in the region is estimated to be 57–71% for M ≥ 6 shocks during the next decade, and 8–12% for M ≥ 7 shocks. These are up to twice the probabilities for the decade before the Wenchuan earthquake struck.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 35 (2008): L17305, doi:10.1029/2008GL034903.
    Collections
    • Geology and Geophysics (G&G)
    Suggested Citation
    Geophysical Research Letters 35 (2008): L17305
     

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