Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-9-2016
Publication Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Abstract
The 2014 Mw = 8.1 Iquique (Pisagua), Chile, earthquake sequence ruptured a segment of the Nazca-South America subduction zone that last hosted a great earthquake in 1877. The sequence opened >3700 surface cracks in the fore arc of decameter-scale length and millimeter-to centimeter-scale aperture. We use the strikes of measured cracks, inferred to be perpendicular to coseismically applied tension, to estimate the slip distribution of the main shock and largest aftershock. The slip estimates are compatible with those based on seismic, geodetic, and tsunami data, indicating that geologic observations can also place quantitative constraints on rupture properties. The earthquake sequence ruptured between two asperities inferred from a regional-scale distribution of surface cracks, interpreted to represent a modal or most common rupture scenario for the northern Chile subduction zone. We suggest that past events, including the 1877 earthquake, broke the 2014 Pisagua source area together with adjacent sections in a throughgoing rupture.
Volume
43
Issue
10
First Page
134
Last Page
141
DOI
10.1002/2016GL070284
Rights
An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright (2016) American Geophysical Union.
To view the published open abstract, go to http://dx.doi.org and enter the DOI.
Recommended Citation
Loveless, John P.; Scott, Chelsea P.; Allmendinger, Richard W.; and González, Gabriel, "Slip Distribution of the 2014 Mw=8.1 Pisagua, Northern Chile, Earthquake Sequence Estimated From Coseismic Fore-Arc Surface Cracks" (2016). Geosciences: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/geo_facpubs/16
Comments
Archived as published.