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Seismicity patterns associated with the September 10th, 2008 Qeshm earthquake, South Iran

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Abstract

The b value of the Gutenberg-Richter relation and the standard deviate, Z, were calculated to investigate the temporal and spatial variations in seismicity patterns associated with the September 10th, 2008 (Mw = 6.1) Qeshm earthquake. The temporal variations of b value illustrate a distinct dramatic drop preceding the Qeshm earthquake, and the spatial changes in b value highlight a zone with an abnormally low b value around the epicenter of this event. The cumulative number and Z value as a function of time show a precursory seismic quiescence preceding the 2008 Qeshm earthquake that observed for 1 year in a circle with R = 50 km around its epicenter. The spatial distribution map of the standard deviate, Z, also exhibits an obvious precursory seismic quiescence region before the 2008 Qeshm event around the epicenter of this event. Interestingly, the precursory seismic quiescence region is approximately consistent with low b value anomaly region, and both have E–W to NE–SW trend. These two precursory anomalies took place in relatively large regions, which were possibly relevant to the preparation zone of the 2008 Qeshm event.

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Acknowledgments

FN is funded by Research council of Sweden (VR). MRS acknowledges of the support provided by the Center of Excellence for Environmental Geohazards and the Research Council of Shiraz University. Part of this research was carried out at Uppsala University, and therefore, Hemin Koyi is thanked for the helps and discussions during the 1st author’s visit of Uppsala. We also thank Stefan Wiemer for the ZMAP software. We are grateful to Mehdi Zare and Maryam Agh-Atabai for valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Mohammad Reza Sorbi & Ahmad Zamani

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden

    Faramarz Nilfouroushan

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  1. Mohammad Reza Sorbi
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  2. Faramarz Nilfouroushan
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Correspondence to Mohammad Reza Sorbi.

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Sorbi, M.R., Nilfouroushan, F. & Zamani, A. Seismicity patterns associated with the September 10th, 2008 Qeshm earthquake, South Iran. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 101, 2215–2223 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-012-0771-6

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