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Crustal deformation characteristics in the southwest segment of the Longmenshan structural belt before Lushan Mw6.6 earthquake and seismogenic structural model

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Abstract

Based on the calculation of precise leveling and GPS observation data, the crustal deformation characteristics of the southwest segment of Longmenshan structural belt before the Lushan Mw6.6 earthquake were analyzed. The results indicate: (1) Before the Lushan earthquake, the focus area and the SW section of the Longmenshan structure zone underwent weak crustal deformation and had large-scale crustal stress strengthening. The crustal deformation field was in a locking state, and the far-field area to the NW underwent obvious crustal deformation. This large-scale crustal deformation weakening or even locking phenomenon has a certain indicative significance for the occurrence of future moderately strong earthquakes in the same tectonic background area. (2) The Wenchuan earthquake caused the adjustment of the tectonic stress from the plateau and accelerated the accumulation of stress in the SW part of the Longmenshan structural belt, which contributed to the Lushan earthquake to a certain degree. (3) The seismogenic structure of the Lushan earthquake is not a simple thrust-type structure, but more likely to be an immature and complex blind thrust fault pattern that developed during the expansion and growth period of the multiple thrust nappe structural system. The seismogenic mechanism has reference value for the prediction of moderately strong earthquakes and scientific research in the periphery of the continental plateau.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the First Monitoring and Application Center (CEA) for providing valuable field observation data.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 41974011) and the Science for Earthquake Resilience Program of China (No. XH20077Y).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The First Monitoring and Application Center, China Earthquake Administration, Tianjin, 300180, China

    Dongzhuo Xu, La Ta, Sanming Luo, Wei Zhan & Wenwu Zhu

  2. China University of Geosciences(Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Shenghu Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Gold Mineralization Processes and Resources Utilization Subordinated To the Ministry of Natural Resources, Shandong Institute of Geological Sciences, Jinan, 250013, China

    Shenghu Li & Xing Shen

Authors
  1. Dongzhuo Xu
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  2. Shenghu Li
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  3. La Ta
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  4. Sanming Luo
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  5. Wei Zhan
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  6. Wenwu Zhu
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  7. Xing Shen
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Contributions

Conceptualization was done by SL and LT; methodology was done by DX; software was done by DX; validation was done by SL and WZ (Wei Zhan); resources were done by WZ (Wenwu Zhu); data curation was done by DX; writing original draft preparation was done by DX; writing-review and editing were done by WZ (Wei Zhan) and XS; visualization was done by DX; project administration was done by WZ (Wenwu Zhu) and XS; funding acquisition was done by WZ (Wenwu Zhu). All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dongzhuo Xu.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by Prof. Semih Ergintav (ASSOCIATE EDITOR) / Prof. Ramon Zuñiga (CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF).

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Xu, D., Li, S., Ta, L. et al. Crustal deformation characteristics in the southwest segment of the Longmenshan structural belt before Lushan Mw6.6 earthquake and seismogenic structural model. Acta Geophys. 69, 1597–1608 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-021-00654-x

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