The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults
Abstract While prior numerical simulations indicate that the Earth's free surface can induce supershear propagation on strike‐slip faults, copious observations of strike‐slip earthquakes have produced only a few instances of such supershear rupture. Our dynamic rupture simulations with varying...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019-08-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084318 |
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| author | Feng Hu David D. Oglesby Xiaofei Chen |
| author_facet | Feng Hu David D. Oglesby Xiaofei Chen |
| author_sort | Feng Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract While prior numerical simulations indicate that the Earth's free surface can induce supershear propagation on strike‐slip faults, copious observations of strike‐slip earthquakes have produced only a few instances of such supershear rupture. Our dynamic rupture simulations with varying initial normal stresses and fault strengths show that free‐surface‐induced supershear rupture on strike‐slip faults may return to sub‐Rayleigh speed as the rupture progresses. Such a phenomenon is defined as unsustained free‐surface‐induced supershear rupture, indicating that a rupture on a strike‐slip fault, even if it encounters the free surface, may not generate supershear rupture that is sustained long enough to be observable. The shape of the rupture front contour on the fault may also lead to a false impression about the rupture velocity, since the daughter crack may also propagate at sub‐Rayleigh speed, with near‐field fault‐perpendicular ground motion. Shallower hypocenter depths increase the likelihood of an unsustained free‐surface‐induced supershear rupture. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bafb85bdac13429c8129dcc08c47d274 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-bafb85bdac13429c8129dcc08c47d2742025-08-20T03:13:22ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072019-08-0146169537954310.1029/2019GL084318The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip FaultsFeng Hu0David D. Oglesby1Xiaofei Chen2School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei ChinaDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of California Riverside CA USADepartment of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaAbstract While prior numerical simulations indicate that the Earth's free surface can induce supershear propagation on strike‐slip faults, copious observations of strike‐slip earthquakes have produced only a few instances of such supershear rupture. Our dynamic rupture simulations with varying initial normal stresses and fault strengths show that free‐surface‐induced supershear rupture on strike‐slip faults may return to sub‐Rayleigh speed as the rupture progresses. Such a phenomenon is defined as unsustained free‐surface‐induced supershear rupture, indicating that a rupture on a strike‐slip fault, even if it encounters the free surface, may not generate supershear rupture that is sustained long enough to be observable. The shape of the rupture front contour on the fault may also lead to a false impression about the rupture velocity, since the daughter crack may also propagate at sub‐Rayleigh speed, with near‐field fault‐perpendicular ground motion. Shallower hypocenter depths increase the likelihood of an unsustained free‐surface‐induced supershear rupture.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084318 |
| spellingShingle | Feng Hu David D. Oglesby Xiaofei Chen The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults Geophysical Research Letters |
| title | The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults |
| title_full | The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults |
| title_fullStr | The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults |
| title_short | The Sustainability of Free‐Surface‐Induced Supershear Rupture on Strike‐Slip Faults |
| title_sort | sustainability of free surface induced supershear rupture on strike slip faults |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084318 |
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