Abstract
Earthquakes occurred on the surface of the Earth contain comprehensive and abundant geodynamic connotations, and can serve as important sources for describing the present-day stress field and regime. An important advantage of the earthquake focal mechanism solution is the ability to obtain the stress pattern information at depth in the lithosphere. During the past several decades, an increasing number of focal mechanisms were available for estimating the present-day stress field and regime. In the present study, altogether 553 focal mechanism data ranging from the year 1976 to 2017 with Mw \(\ge \)7.0 were compiled in the Global/Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalogue, the characteristics of global strong earthquakes and the present-day stress pattern were analyzed based on these data. The majority of global strong earthquakes are located around the plate boundaries, shallow-focus, and thrust faulting (TF) regime. We grouped 518 of them into 12 regions (Boxes) based on their geographical proximity and tectonic setting. For each box, the present-day stress field and regime were obtained by formal stress inversion. The results indicated that the maximum horizontal principal stress direction was \(\sim \)N–S-trending in western North America continent and southwestern Indonesia, \(\sim \)NNE–SSW-trending in western Middle America and central Asia, \(\sim \)NE–SW in southeastern South America continent and northeastern Australia, \(\sim \)NEE–SWW-trending in western South America continent and southeastern Asia, \(\sim \)E–W-trending in southeastern Australia, and \(\sim \)NW–SE-trending in eastern Asia. The results can provide additional constraints to the driving forces and geodynamic models, allowing them to explain the current plate interactions and crustal tectonic complexities better.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angelier J 1979 Determination of the mean principal directions of stresses for a given fault population; Tectonophys. 56 T17–T26.
Angelier J 1994 Fault slip analysis and paleostress reconstruction; In: Continental Deformation (ed.) Hancock P L, Pergamon, Oxford, pp. 101–120.
Armstrong D, Mugglestone F, Richards R and Stratton F 2008 OCR Geology AS & A2 Student Book: Exclusively Endorsed by OCR for GCE Geology; Pearson Education Limited, 336p.
Barth A 2007 Frequency sensitive moment tensor inversion for light to moderate magnitude earthquake in Eastern Africa and derivation of the regional stress field; PhD thesis, University of Karlsruhe.
Bird P 2003 An updated digital model of plate boundaries; Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4(3) 1–52.
Bott M H P 1959 The mechanisms of oblique slip faulting; Geol. Mag. 96 109–117.
Carey-Gailhardis E and Vergely P 1992 Graphical analysis of fault kinematics and focal mechanisms of earthquakes in term of stress: The right dihedral method, use and pitfalls; Ann. Tecton. VI(1) 3–9.
Coltice N, Gerault M and Ulvrova M 2017 A mantle convection perspective on global tectonics; Earth Sci. Rev. 165 120–150.
Cortes M and Angelier J 2005 Current states of stress in the northern Andes as indicated by focal mechanisms of earthquakes; Tectonophys. 403 29–58.
Delvaux D and Barth A 2010 African stress pattern from formal inversion of focal mechanism data; Tectonophys. 482 105–128.
Delvaux D, Moeys R, Stapel G, Melnikov A and Ermikov V 1995 Palaeostress reconstruction and geodynamics of the Baikal region, Central Asia. Part 1: Palaeozoic and Mesozoic pre-rift evolution; Tectonophys. 252 61–101.
Delvaux D, Moeys R, Stapel G, Petit C, Levi K, Miroshnichenko A, Ruzhich V and Sankov V 1997 Palaeostress reconstruction and geodynamics of the Baikal region, Central Asia. Part 2: Cenozoic rifting; Tectonophys. 282 1–38.
Delvaux D and Sperner B 2003 Stress tensor inversion from fault kinematic indicators and focal mechanism data: The TENSOR program; In: New Insights into Structural Interpretation and Modeling (ed.) Nieuwland D A, Geol. Soc. London, Spec. Publ. 212 75–100.
Ding Z Y, Qian X L, Huo H and Yang Y Q 1998 A new method for quantitative prediction of tectonic fractures – Two Factor Method; Oil Gas Geol. 19(1) 1–7, 14 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Dziewonski A M, Chou T A and Woodhouse J H 1981 Determination of earthquake source parameters from waveform data for studies of global and regional seismicity; J. Geophys. Res. 86 2825–2852.
Dziewonski A M, Ekstrom G, Franzen J E and Woodhouse J H 1987 Global seismicity of 1977: Centroid-moment tensor solutions for 471 earthquakes; Phys. Earth Planet. In. 45 11–36.
Etchecopar A, Vasseur G and Daignieres M 1981 An inverse problem in microtectonics for the determination of stress tensors from fault striation analysis; J. Struct. Geol. 3 51–65.
Fuchs K and Muller B 2001 World Stress Map of the Earth: A key to tectonic processes and technological applications; Sci. Nat. 88(9) 357–371.
Frisch W, Meschede M and Blakey R 2011 Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift and Mountain Building, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 212p.
Gephart J W and Forsyth D W 1984 An improved method for determining the regional stress tensor using earthquake focal mechanism data: Application to the San Fernando earthquake sequence; J. Geophys. Res. 89(B11) 9305–9320.
Heidbach O, Tingay M, Barth A, Reinecker J, Kurfeß D and Muller B 2010 Global crustal stress pattern based on the World Stress Map database release 2008; Tectonophys. 482 3–15.
Hong Z J, Chen H X, Zhao Y and Hu J C 2009 Global earthquakes and volcanoes: Distribution and variations; Seismol. Geol. 31(4) 573–583 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Hou G T, Wang C C, Li J H and Qian X L 2006 Late Paleoproterozoic extension and a palaeostress field reconstruction of North China Craton; Tectonophys. 422 89–98.
Hussein H M, Abou Elenean K M, Marzouk I A, Korrat I M, Abu El-Nader I F, Ghazala H and ElGabry M N 2013 Present-day tectonic stress regime in Egypt and surrounding area based on inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms; J. Afr. Earth Sci. 81 1–15.
Ju W and Sun W F 2016 Tectonic fractures in the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation of Qingxi Oilfield, Jiuxi Basin, NW China. Part two: Numerical simulation of tectonic stress field and prediction of tectonic fractures; J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 146 626–636.
Ju W, Hou G T, Li L and Xiao F F 2012 End Late Paleozoic tectonic stress field in the southern edge of Junggar Basin; Geosci. Front. 3(5) 707–715.
Ju W, Hou G T and Hari K R 2013a Mechanics of mafic dyke swarms in the Deccan Large Igneous Province: Palaeostress field modelling; J. Geodyn. 66 79–91.
Ju W, Hou G T, Huang S Y and Ren K X 2013b Structural fracture distribution and prediction of the Lower Jurassic Ahe Formation sandstone in the Yinan-Tuzi area, Kuqa Depression; Geotecton. Metallog. 37(4) 592–602 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Ju W, Hou G T, Feng S B, Zhao W T, Zhang J Z, You Y, Zhan Y and Yu X 2014a Quantitative prediction of the Yanchang Formation Chang \(6_{3}\) reservoir tectonic fracture in the Qingcheng–Heshui area, Ordos Basin; Earth Sci. Front. 21(6) 310–320 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Ju W, Hou G T and Zhang B 2014b Insights into the damage zones in fault-bend folds from geomechanical models and field data; Tectonophys. 610 182–194.
Ju W, Sun W F and Hou G T 2015 Insights into the tectonic fractures in the Yanchang Formation intetbedded sandstone-mudstone of the Ordos Basin based on core data and geomechanical models; Acta Geol. Sin. Engl. 89(6) 1986–1997.
Kreemer C, Holt W E and Haines A J 2003 An integrated global model of present-day plate motions and plate boundary deformation; Geophys. J. Int. 154 8–34.
Li S D 1983 Principle of Dynamic Geology, Geological Publishing House, Beijing, 359p (in Chinese).
Lithgow-Bertelloni C and Richards M A 1998 The dynamics of Cenozoic and Mesozoic plate motions; Rev. Geophys. 36(1) 27–78.
Lund B and Townend J 2007 Calculating horizontal stress orientations with full or partial knowledge of the tectonic stress tensor; Geophys. J. Int. 170(3) 1328–1335.
Lunina O V and Gladkov A S 2007 Late Cenozoic fault pattern and stress fields in Barguzin rift (Baikal region); Russ. Geol. Geophys. 48 598–609.
Ma L H, Han Y B and Yin Z Q 2007 Distribution characteristics of global significant earthquakes and possible connection between earthquakes and Earth’s variable rotation rate; Astron. Res. Techn. 4(4) 406–411 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Martin P, Hunen J V, Parmam S and Davidson J 2008 Why does plate tectonics occur only on Earth? Phys. Edu. 43(2) 144–150.
Naimi-Ghassabian N, Khatib M, Nazari H and Heyhat M 2015 Present-day tectonic regime and stress patterns from the formal inversion of focal mechanism data, in the North of Central-East Iran Blocks; J. Afr. Earth Sci. 111 113–126.
Reynolds S D, Coblentz D D and Hillis R R 2002 Tectonic forces controlling the regional intraplate stress field in continental Australia: Results from new finite-element modelling; J. Geophys. Res. 107(B7), doi: 10.1029/2001JB000408.
Smart K J, Ferrill D A and Morris A P 2009 Impact of interlayer slip on fracture prediction from geomechanical models of fault-related folds; AAPG Bull. 93(11) 1447–1458.
Soumaya A, Ayed N B, Delvaux D and Ghanmi M 2015 Spatial variation of present-day stress field and tectonic regime in Tunisia and surroundings from formal inversion of focal mechanisms: Geodynamic implications for central Mediterranean;Tectonics 34 1154–1180.
Sperner B, Muller B, Heidbach O, Delvaux D, Reinecker J and Fuchs K 2003 Tectonic stress in the Earth’s crust: Advances in the World Stress Map Project; In: New Insights into Structural Interpretation and Modeling (ed.) Nieuwland D A, Geol. Soc. London, Spec. Publ. 212 101–116.
Tang Y J 1997 A preliminary analysis on the character of the distribution of global earthquakes in latitude and the peak abnomaly near latitude \(35^{\circ }\)N; North China Earthq. Sci. 15(2) 76–80 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Tingay M, Morley C, King R, Hillis R, Coblentz D and Hall R 2010 Present-day stress field of Southeast Asia; Tectonophys. 482 92–104.
Yu Y, Hong H J, Liu, P X, Tao W and Zheng X Z 2003 Spatio-temporal distribution of global great earthquakes and dynamic mechanism; Earth Sci. Front. 10 5–10 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Zoback M L 1992 First- and second-order patterns of stress in the lithosphere: The World Stress Map Project; J. Geophys. Res. 97(B8) 11,703–11,728.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for giving constructive suggestions and comments which improved this manuscript in many aspects. Many thanks to the Global CMT Project for the earthquake data. The work was financially supported by the Key Laboratory of Coal-based \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) Capture and Geological Storage, Jiangsu Province (China University of Mining and Technology 2016B04), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M581891), Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (1501059A) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Corresponding editor: N Purnachandra Rao
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wei, J., Weifeng, S. & Jinhui, L. Characteristics of global strong earthquakes and their implications for the present-day stress pattern. J Earth Syst Sci 126, 100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0875-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0875-2