Analysis of the Block-Fault Structure Dynamics in the Area of Earthquakes in 2008 and 2020 near Southern Lake Baikal by the Methods of Satellite Radiointerferometry

The displacements of the Earth’s surface before and after the earthquakes that took place near the southern shore of Lake Baikal on September 21, 2020 (Bystrinskoe earthquake with a magnitude of M = 5.5), and August 27, 2008 (Kultukskoye earthquake with a magnitude of M = 6.3), were analyzed using satellite radar interferometry methods. Remote sensing data obtained by the Sentinel-1B (C-band) and the ALOS-1/2 PALSAR-1/2 (L-band) spaceborne synthetic aperture radars were used to study deformation processes. Blocks with different strain rates were found based on the results of analysis of satellite radar interferometric measurements for the period from May 2017 to October 2020 for the Bystrinskoe earthquake and from January 2007 to February 2011 for the Kultukskoe earthquake. The difference in the deformation values before the Bystrinskoe earthquake was 14 mm and that before the Kultukskoe earthquake ranged from 12 to 13 mm.