Crustal dilatation observed by GRACE after the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

We report the detection of an earthquake by a space-based measurement. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites observed a +/-15-microgalileo gravity change induced by the great December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. Coseismic deformation produces sudden changes in the gravity field by vertical displacement of Earth's layered density structure and by changing the densities of the crust and mantle. GRACE's sensitivity to the long spatial wavelength of gravity changes resulted in roughly equal contributions of vertical displacement and dilatation effects in the gravity measurements. The GRACE observations provide evidence of crustal dilatation resulting from an undersea earthquake.     

Detection of large prehistoric earthquakes in the pacific northwest by microfossil analysis

Geologic and palynological evidence for rapid sea level change approximately 3400 and approximately 2000 carbon-14 years ago (3600 and 1900 calendar years ago) has been found at sites up to 110 kilometers apart in southwestern British Columbia. Submergence on southern Vancouver Island and slight emergence on the mainland during the older event are consistent with a great (magnitude M >/= 8) earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone. The younger event is characterized by submergence throughout the region and may also record a plate-boundary earthquake or a very large crustal or intraplate earthquake. Microfossil analysis can detect small amounts of coseismic uplift and subsidence that leave little or no lithostratigraphic signature.     

汶川地震前后温江不同土层温度的变化特征

运用地面气象测报业务软件,结合铂电阻地温传感器分别采集地震前后4年(2004~2012年)的土层温度,探讨汶川Ms 8.0级地震前后温江不同土层温度的变化特征。结果表明,随着土层的加深,土壤温度呈下降的趋势,且在0 cm时达最高;0、10、15、20 cm土层的5月份平均温度随着年份的增加,其温度总体上表现出先增加后降低的趋势,在2007年5月时达最高值;而40、80、320 cm土层的5月份平均温度的年际变化相对较小。浅层(0~40 cm)地温的变化幅度较大,而深层地温(80~320 cm)的变化幅度较小;其原因主要是由于浅层地温受地面天气现象的影响较大,而深层地温则受此影响较小,但其地温总体上呈逐渐增加的趋势,与太阳辐射的增强有关,且基本不受地震释放的热量影响。地震对不同土层的温度均有不同程度的影响,且随土层的加深,其影响逐渐降低,在0、5、10、15、20 cm的土层温度中,其作用尤为明显。地震对不同土层温度的影响集中体现在震后1~3 d,而震前无明显的变化,这也是当前地震预警预报较低的原因之一。     

麋鹿等鹿科动物行为与地震宏观观测

在地震宏观观测中,动物行为可被视作观测对象之一。以麋鹿等鹿类动物为观测对象探讨鹿类动物对地震的敏感度。集中观测了鹿科动物异常行为与环境、地震的联系。通过观测发现,鹿类动物对四级以下地震不敏感,不能对四级以下地震做出预报;但鹿类动物对周围环境变化,尤其是人为环境变化较为敏感。     

Radon Anomaly: A Possible Precursor of the 1978 Izu-Oshima-kinkai Earthquake

Precursory changes in the radon concentration of groundwater were observed prior to the Izu-Oshima-kinkai earthquake (magnitude 7.0) 14 January 1978. The distance from the epicenter to a continuous radon-monitoring station at Nakaizu was about 25 kilometers. A sudden drop and a subsequent increase in the radon concentration recorded on 9 January 1978 were significant. The size of the spike-like change was about 15 percent. After the earthquake, a remarkable increase in the radon concentration occurred.     

城市供水管抗震功能可靠性分析

考虑节点流量随节点水压的动态变化,构建地震导致渗漏的供水管网水力模型,基于EPANET计算管网节点实际流量和水压,在此基础上结合一次二阶矩方法,得到震后低压供水时管网系统的功能可靠性指标。结合实例分析预测震后管网供水能力,并进行了震后低压供水时管网功能可靠性分析,研究结果可为城市供水管网抗震防灾管理提供借鉴。     

Tilt Precursors before Earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault, California

An array of 14 biaxial shallow-borehole tiltmeters (at 1O(-7) radian sensitivity) has been installed along 85 kilometers of the San Andreas fault during the past year. Earthquake-related changes in tilt have been simultaneously observed on up to four independent instruments. At earthquake distances greater than 10 earthquake source dimensions, there are few clear indications of tilt change. For the four instruments with the longest records (> 10 months), 26 earthquakes have occurred since July 1973 with at least one instrument closer than 10 source dimensions and 8 earthquakes with more than one instrument within that distance. Precursors in tilt direction have been observed before more than 10 earthquakes or groups of earthquakes, and no similar effect has yet been seen without the occurrence of an earthquake.     

北川新县城四川短尾鼩种群动态及繁殖生态

调查地震灾后北川四川短尾鼩种群数量和繁殖特征的动态变化,研究其种群动态变化规律,为控制害兽提供科学依据.2009年7月、10月和2010年1月、4月、7月、10月在居民区、农田、林地3种生境采用夹夜法调查,收集标本,分类鉴定,计算捕获率,并解剖观察其繁殖状况,根据其性比、怀孕率、胎仔数、睾丸下降率、繁殖指数等指标分析繁...     

Slip deficit on the san andreas fault at parkfield, california, as revealed by inversion of geodetic data

A network of geodetic lines spanning the San Andreas fault near the rupture zone of the 1966 Parkfield, California, earthquake (magnitude M = 6) has been repeatedly surveyed since 1959. In the study reported here the average rates of line-length change since 1966 were inverted to determine the distribution of interseismic slip rate on the fault. These results indicate that the Parkfield rupture surface has not slipped significantly since 1966. Comparison of the geodetically determined seismic moment of the 1966 earthquake with the interseismic slip-deficit rate suggests that the strain released by the latest shock will most likely be restored between 1984 and 1989, although this may not occur until 1995. These results lend independent support to the earlier forecast of an M = 6 earthquake near Parkfield within 5 years of 1988.     

Earthquake Prediction: Variation of Seismic Velocities before the San Francisco Earthquake

A large precursory change in seismic body-wave velocities occurred before the earthquake in San Fernando, California. The discovery that this change is mainly in the P-wave velocity clearly relates the effect to the phenomenon of dilatancy in fluid-filled rocks. This interpretation is supported by the time-volume relation obtained by combining the present data with the data from previous studies. The duration of the precursor period is proportional to the square of an effective fault dimension, which indicates that a diffusive or fluid-flow phenomenon controls the time interval between the initiation of dilatancy and the return to a fully saturated condition which is required for rupture.     

Disruption of the mauna loa magma system by the 1868 hawaiian earthquake: geochemical evidence

To test whether a catastrophic earthquake could affect an active magma system, mean abundances (adjusted for "olivine control") of titanium, potassium, phosphorus, strontium, zirconium, and niobium of historic lavas erupted from Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii, after 1868 were analyzed and were found to decrease sharply relative to lavas erupted before 1868. This abrupt change in lava chemistry, accompanied by a halved lava-production rate for Mauna Loa after 1877, is interpreted to reflect the disruptive effects of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in 1868. This interpretation represents a documentable case of changes in magmatic chemical variations initiated or accelerated by a major tectonic event.     

地震区油气管道的应变与位移检测技术

为了对地震区油气管道所承受的附加应力进行有效检查,提出基于惯性导航技术的应变及位移检测方法,可对油气管道全线进行有效检测,及时发现管道位移和应变集中点。通过使用搭载惯性导航单元的内检测器对管道进行检测,并与地面标记点、里程计进行组合导航数据融合得到精确的管道中心线坐标后,进一步对管道弯曲应变进行计算,可有效查找管道全线的应变变化及位移区域,并能够检测应变及位移变化量。通过牵引试验验证了应变检测的正确性及数据重复性,该方法为地震区长输油气管道的安全运行提供了有效保障。     

Recent earthquake prediction research in Japan

Japan has experienced many major earthquake disasters in the past. Early in this century research began that was aimed at predicting the occurrence of earthquakes, and in 1965 an earthquake prediction program was started as a national project. In 1978 a program for constant monitoring and assessment was formally inaugurated with the goal of forecasting the major earthquake that is expected to occur in the near future in the Tokai district of central Honshu Island. The issue of predicting the anticipated Tokai earthquake is discussed in this article as well as the results of research on major recent earthquakes in Japan-the Izu earthquakes (1978 and 1980) and the Japan Sea earthquake (1983).     

The 1985 central chile earthquake: a repeat of previous great earthquakes in the region?

A great earthquake (surface-wave magnitude, 7.8) occurred along the coast of central Chile on 3 March 1985, causing heavy damage to coastal towns. Intense foreshock activity near the epicenter of the main shock occurred for 11 days before the earthquake. The aftershocks of the 1985 earthquake define a rupture area of 170 by 110 square kilometers. The earthquake was forecast on the basis of the nearly constant repeat time (83 +/- 9 years) of great earthquakes in this region. An analysis of previous earthquakes suggests that the rupture lengths of great shocks in the region vary by a factor of about 3. The nearly constant repeat time and variable rupture lengths cannot be reconciled with time- or slip-predictable models of earthquake recurrence. The great earthquakes in the region seem to involve a variable rupture mode and yet, for unknown reasons, remain periodic. Historical data suggest that the region south of the 1985 rupture zone should now be considered a gap of high seismic potential that may rupture in a great earthquake in the next few tens of years.     

Inner core differential motion confirmed by earthquake waveform doublets

We analyzed 18 high-quality waveform doublets with time separations of up to 35 years in the South Sandwich Islands region, for which the seismic signals have traversed the inner core as PKP(DF). The doublets show a consistent temporal change of travel times at up to 58 stations in and near Alaska, and they show a dissimilarity of PKP(DF) coda. Using waveform doublets avoids artifacts of earthquake mislocations and contamination from small-scale heterogeneities. Our results confirm that Earth's inner core is rotating faster than the mantle and crust at about 0.3 degrees to 0.5 degrees per year.     

The 2002 Denali fault earthquake,Alaska: a large magnitude,slip-partitioned event

The MW (moment magnitude) 7.9 Denali fault earthquake on 3 November 2002 was associated with 340 kilometers of surface rupture and was the largest strike-slip earthquake in North America in almost 150 years. It illuminates earthquake mechanics and hazards of large strike-slip faults. It began with thrusting on the previously unrecognized Susitna Glacier fault, continued with right-slip on the Denali fault, then took a right step and continued with right-slip on the Totschunda fault. There is good correlation between geologically observed and geophysically inferred moment release. The earthquake produced unusually strong distal effects in the rupture propagation direction, including triggered seismicity.     

Major earthquakes occur regularly on an isolated plate boundary fault

The scarcity of long geological records of major earthquakes, on different types of faults, makes testing hypotheses of regular versus random or clustered earthquake recurrence behavior difficult. We provide a fault-proximal major earthquake record spanning 8000 years on the strike-slip Alpine Fault in New Zealand. Cyclic stratigraphy at Hokuri Creek suggests that the fault ruptured to the surface 24 times, and event ages yield a 0.33 coefficient of variation in recurrence interval. We associate this near-regular earthquake recurrence with a geometrically simple strike-slip fault, with high slip rate, accommodating a high proportion of plate boundary motion that works in isolation from other faults. We propose that it is valid to apply time-dependent earthquake recurrence models for seismic hazard estimation to similar faults worldwide.     

Surface displacements in the 1906 san francisco and 1989 loma prieta earthquakes

The horizontal displacements accompanying the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake are computed from geodetic survey measurements. The 1906 earthquake displacement field is entirely consistent with right-lateral strike slip on the San Andreas fault. In contrast, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake exhibited subequal components of strike slip and reverse faulting. This result, together with other seismic and geologic data, may indicate that the two earthquakes occurred on two different fault planes.     

Near-field investigations of the landers earthquake sequence, april to july 1992

The Landers earthquake, which had a moment magnitude (M(w)) of 7.3, was the largest earthquake to strike the contiguous United States in 40 years. This earthquake resulted from the rupture of five major and many minor right-lateral faults near the southern end of the eastern California shear zone, just north of the San Andreas fault. Its M(w) 6.1 preshock and M(w) 6.2 aftershock had their own aftershocks and foreshocks. Surficial geological observations are consistent with local and far-field seismologic observations of the earthquake. Large surficial offsets (as great as 6 meters) and a relatively short rupture length (85 kilometers) are consistent with seismological calculations of a high stress drop (200 bars), which is in turn consistent with an apparently long recurrence interval for these faults.     

Earth tides can trigger shallow thrust fault earthquakes

We show a correlation between the occurrence of shallow thrust earthquakes and the occurrence of the strongest tides. The rate of earthquakes varies from the background rate by a factor of 3 with the tidal stress. The highest correlation is found when we assume a coefficient of friction of mu = 0.4 for the crust, although we see good correlation for mu between 0.2 and 0.6. Our results quantify the effect of applied stress on earthquake triggering, a key factor in understanding earthquake nucleation and cascades whereby one earthquake triggers others.