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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • postseismic deformation
  • fault slip
  • Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

Index Terms

  • Geodesy and Gravity: Transient deformation
  • Geodesy and Gravity: Seismic cycle related deformations
  • Tectonophysics: Rheology: mantle
  • Tectonophysics: Rheology and friction of fault zones
  • Geodesy and Gravity: Satellite geodesy: results

Abstract

Postseismic deformation of the Andaman Islands following the 26 December, 2004 Great Sumatra–Andaman earthquake

J. Paul

Centre for Earthquake Research and Information, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

A. R. Lowry

Department of Geology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

R. Bilham

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

S. Sen

Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology, Middle Point, Port Blair, India

R. Smalley Jr.

Centre for Earthquake Research and Information, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Two years after the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake the 3.1 m WSW coseismic displacement at Port Blair, Andaman Islands, had increased by 32 cm. Postseismic uplift initially exceeded 1 cm per week and decreased to <1 mm/week. By 2007 points near Port Blair had risen more than 20 cm, a 24% reversal of coseismic subsidence. Uplift at eight GPS sites suggests a gradual eastward shift of the coseismic neutral axis separating subsidence from uplift. Simulations of the GPS postseismic displacements as viscoelastic relaxation of coseismic stress change and as slip on the plate interface indicate that slip down-dip of the seismic rupture dominates near-field deformation during the first two years. Postseismic slip beneath the Andaman Islands released moment equivalent to a magnitude M w ≥ 7.5 earthquake, and the distribution suggests deep slip in the stable frictional regime accelerated to catch up to the coseismic rupture.

Received 20 June 2007; accepted 5 September 2007; published 13 October 2007.

Citation: Paul, J., A. R. Lowry, R. Bilham, S. Sen, and R. Smalley Jr. (2007), Postseismic deformation of the Andaman Islands following the 26 December, 2004 Great Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L19309, doi:10.1029/2007GL031024.

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