Fault‐Scaling Relationships Depend on the Average Fault‐Slip Rate

Research Article| November 07, 2017 Fault‐Scaling Relationships Depend on the Average Fault‐Slip Rate John G. Anderson; John G. Anderson aNevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, jga@unr.edu, stevew@seismo.unr.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Glenn P. Biasi; Glenn P. Biasi aNevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, jga@unr.edu, stevew@seismo.unr.edubNow at U.S. Geological Survey, 525 S. Wilson Avenue, Pasadena, California 91106; gbiasi@usgs.gov. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Steven G. Wesnousky Steven G. Wesnousky aNevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, jga@unr.edu, stevew@seismo.unr.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information John G. Anderson aNevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, jga@unr.edu, stevew@seismo.unr.edu Glenn P. Biasi aNevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, jga@unr.edu, stevew@seismo.unr.edubNow at U.S. Geological Survey, 525 S. Wilson Avenue, Pasadena, California 91106; gbiasi@usgs.gov. Steven G. Wesnousky aNevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, jga@unr.edu, stevew@seismo.unr.edu Publisher: Seismological Society of America First Online: 07 Nov 2017 Online Issn: 1943-3573 Print Issn: 0037-1106 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2017) 107 (6): 2561–2577. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120160361 Article history First Online: 07 Nov 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation John G. Anderson, Glenn P. Biasi, Steven G. Wesnousky; Fault‐Scaling Relationships Depend on the Average Fault‐Slip Rate. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2017;; 107 (6): 2561–2577. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120160361 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of the Seismological Society of America Search Advanced Search Abstract This study addresses whether knowing the slip rate on a fault improves estimates of magnitude (⁠Mw⁠) of shallow continental surface‐rupturing earthquakes. Based on 43 earthquakes from the database of Wells and Coppersmith (1994), Anderson et al. (1996) suggested previously that the estimates of Mw from rupture length (⁠LE⁠) are improved by incorporating the slip rate of the fault (⁠SF⁠). We re‐evaluate this relationship with an expanded database of 80 events, which includes 56 strike‐slip, 13 reverse‐, and 11 normal‐faulting events. When the data are subdivided by fault mechanism, magnitude predictions from rupture length are improved for strike‐slip faults when slip rate is included but not for reverse or normal faults. Whether or not the slip‐rate term is present, a linear model with Mw∼logLE over all rupture lengths implies that the stress drop depends on rupture length—an observation that is not supported by teleseismic observations. We consider two other models, including one we prefer because it has constant stress drop over the entire range of LE for any constant value of SF and fits the data as well as the linear model. The dependence on slip rate for strike‐slip faults is a persistent feature of all considered models. The observed dependence on SF supports the conclusion that for strike‐slip faults of a given length, the static stress drop, on average, tends to decrease as the fault‐slip rate increases. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.