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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • coseismic rupture
  • field investigation
  • InSAR interferogram

Index Terms

  • Seismology: Seismicity and tectonics
  • Structural Geology: Fractures and faults
  • Radio Science: Interferometry
  • Seismology: Earthquake ground motions and engineering seismology
  • Structural Geology: Remote sensing

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 36, L11303, 5 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009GL037971

Coseismic surface-ruptures and crustal deformations of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake Mw7.9, China

Ken Xiansheng Hao

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Tsukuba, Japan

Hongjun Si

Kozo Keikaku Engineering Inc., Tokyo, Japan

Hiroyuki Fujiwara

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Tsukuba, Japan

Taku Ozawa

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Tsukuba, Japan

The irregularly distributed surface fault-ruptures of the Wenchuan earthquake spanned over 200 km along the Longmen Shan(LMS) fault zone. Through field investigations, we found over 10 coseismic surface-ruptures, with maximum vertical displacements of approximately 6 m on the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault and 2 m on the Guanxian-Anxian fault; however, the entire fault rupture movement was still not clearly understood since high topographic areas were inaccessible. Thus, we used interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) satellite observations to capture whole coseismic surface-ruptures and crustal deformations across the LMS faults. We created a novel bi-fault-slip model to invert fault-slips using InSAR information which yielded that thrust fault-slips were dominant at YingXiu, Houshenggou and Bajiaomiao in the near-epicenter segment, while the dextral fault-slips were dominant at Pingtong and Nanba along the northeast segment. The combination of field investigations and simulations suggested that the two coseismic fault zones ruptured with an irregular surface distribution accompanied by crustal deformations.

Received 28 February 2009; accepted 28 April 2009; published 4 June 2009.

Citation: Hao, K. X., H. Si, H. Fujiwara, and T. Ozawa (2009), Coseismic surface-ruptures and crustal deformations of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake Mw7.9, China, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L11303, doi:10.1029/2009GL037971.

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