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Seismic source characteristics of the intermediate-depth and intraslab 2019 northern Peru earthquake (Mw 8.0)

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Abstract

On May 26, 2019, an unusual depth-intermediate focus earthquake, in the interior of the Nazca plate, shook the northern Peruvian jungle and caused the death of two victims. This earthquake was felt in almost all of Peru as well as Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia. The focal mechanism calculated is of the normal fault type (strike = 353, dip = 57, rake = − 99) for a focal depth of 114 km. The slip distribution was obtained through an inversion process of teleseismic waveforms. The maximum slip was 6.3 m, located around the central side of the fault plane. The moment magnitude calculated was Mw 8.0; the spectral analysis indicated a similar magnitude of Mw 8.0. The source time function indicates a multiple rupture earthquake, with the presence of several pulses of seismic energy release, with a total duration around 80 s. The rupture directivity was from the south to the north; we have assumed a propagation rupture velocity of 2.8 km/s. The modeled fault plane geometry has dimensions of 208×105 km2. The predicted vertical coseismic deformation field shows a pattern of mostly subsidence.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mattie Sherwood for the revision of the lingüistic aspects of the manuscript. Furthermore, we thank the research grant from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and from Concytec (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología) of Peru.

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Correspondence to César Jiménez.

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Jiménez, C., Luna, N., Moreno, N. et al. Seismic source characteristics of the intermediate-depth and intraslab 2019 northern Peru earthquake (Mw 8.0). J Seismol 25, 863–874 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-021-09996-x

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