Abstract
To reveal the distribution pattern of aftershocks of the Mw 6.6 Lushan earthquake on April 20, 2013, we analyzed finite-source slip models from seismic waveform inversions and calculated the stress changes on and off the main rupture. In the spatial domain, the fitted coseismic slip–stress relation on subfaults is much closer to the quadratic stress drop model than to the uniform stress model. In the wavenumber domain, the slip and stress change spectrum decay asymptotically as k−3 and k−2, respectively, where k is the wavenumber. And in this domain, we also find that the prediction of a quadratic stress drop model matches data better than a uniform stress drop model. In addition, we studied the effective friction coefficient on the fault. Aftershocks were clustered around a relatively narrow zone that counters the main rupture plane. The narrow zone has a main rupture width with a standard deviation of 2.7 km for M ≥ 3 events. For 12 M ≥ 4.8 aftershocks, approximately 33% of nodal planes were calculated to be located in the zone of positive shear stress changes, while 83% were in the zone of positive normal stress changes (unclamp), suggesting a high effective friction coefficient \({\mu }^{^{\prime}}\)≥ 0.8 on the main fault. Combined with the investigation in aftershocks triggered by blind thrust events at Whittier Narrows (USA), Zemmouri (Algeria), and Gorkha (Nepal), we suggest that the correlation between aftershocks and positive Coulomb stress changes increases with the effective friction coefficient \(\mu \mathrm{^{\prime}}\), and the effective friction coefficient and normal stress changes play an important role in aftershock triggering of blind thrust events.
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source slip models of Zhang et al. (2014) and Wang et al. (2013), respectively. c represents shear stress changes and the corresponding slip on each patch grid point of the fault plane and the fitting curves of the slip–stress relation. Green points are the stress calculated from the Zhang et al. (2014) slip model, and orange points show the stress calculated from the Wang et al. (2013) slip model. The slip distribution was normalized by the maximum slip, and the positive and negative shear stress changes were normalized by the maximum values of the positive and negative stress changes, respectively. The solid green and orange curves show the fitted relationship between stress changes and slip of the Lushan raw data from Zhang et al. (2014) and Wang et al. (2013), respectively. The dashed curves are fitted slip–stress relations of different slip distributions. When p = 3, the stress drop corresponds to the quadratic model (blue dashed line), and when p = 1, the stress drop corresponds to the uniform model (red dashed line)
source slip models of Zhang et al. (2014)
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Acknowledgements
We benefited greatly from discussion with the Deep Ocean Geodynamic Group of the SCSIO. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments of the manuscripts. Maps were prepared using public-domain GMT software (Wessel & Smith, 1998). We are grateful for funding from the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou; GML2019ZD0205), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41704049, 41890813, 41976066, and 41976064); and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y4SL021001, QYZDY-SSW-DQC005, 133244KYSB20180029, 131551KYSB20200021, and ISEE2021PY03), National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China (ZDJ2019-17 and ZDJ2017-29).
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Zhong, Q., Lin, J., Shi, B. et al. Quadratic Stress Drop Model of the 2013 Mw 6.6 Lushan Earthquake and Aftershocks Triggered by Blind Thrust Events. Pure Appl. Geophys. 179, 1147–1157 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-022-02992-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-022-02992-3