The 1987 whittier narrows earthquake in the los angeles metropolitan area, california

The Whittier Narrows earthquake sequence (local magnitude, M(L) = 5.9), which caused over $358-million damage, indicates that assessments of earthquake hazards in the Los Angeles metropolitan area may be underestimated. The sequence ruptured a previously unidentified thrust fault that may be part of a large system of thrust faults that extends across the entire east-west length of the northern margin of the Los Angeles basin. Peak horizontal accelerations from the main shock, which were measured at ground level and in structures, were as high as 0.6g (where g is the acceleration of gravity at sea level) within 50 kilometers of the epicenter. The distribution of the modified Mercalli intensity VII reflects a broad north-south elongated zone of damage that is approximately centered on the main shock epicenter.     

Fault interactions and large complex earthquakes in the Los Angeles area

Faults in complex tectonic environments interact in various ways, including triggered rupture of one fault by another, that may increase seismic hazard in the surrounding region. We model static and dynamic fault interactions between the strike-slip and thrust fault systems in southern California. We find that rupture of the Sierra Madre-Cucamonga thrust fault system is unlikely to trigger rupture of the San Andreas or San Jacinto strike-slip faults. However, a large northern San Jacinto fault earthquake could trigger a cascading rupture of the Sierra Madre-Cucamonga system, potentially causing a moment magnitude 7.5 to 7.8 earthquake on the edge of the Los Angeles metropolitan region.     

Stress triggering of the 1994 m = 6.7 northridge, california, earthquake by its predecessors

A model of stress transfer implies that earthquakes in 1933 and 1952 increased the Coulomb stress toward failure at the site of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The 1971 earthquake in turn raised stress and produced aftershocks at the site of the 1987 Whittier Narrows and 1994 Northridge ruptures. The Northridge main shock raised stress in areas where its aftershocks and surface faulting occurred. Together, the earthquakes with moment magnitude M >/= 6 near Los Angeles since 1933 have stressed parts of the Oak Ridge, Sierra Madre, Santa Monica Mountains, Elysian Park, and Newport-lnglewood faults by more than 1 bar. Although too small to cause earthquakes, these stress changes can trigger events if the crust is already near failure or advance future earthquake occurrence if it is not.     

Recognition of paleoearthquakes on the Puente Hills blind thrust fault,California

Borehole data from young sediments folded above the Puente Hills blind thrust fault beneath Los Angeles reveal that the folding extends to the surface as a discrete zone (相似文献   

Point mugu, california, earthquake of 21 february 1973 and its aftershocks

Seismological investigations show that the Point Mugu earthquake involved north-south crustal shortening deep within the complex fault zone that marks the southern front of the Transverse Ranges province. This earthquake sequence results from the same stress system responsible for the deformation in this province in the Pliocene through Holocene and draws attention to the significant earthquake hazard that the southern frontal fault system poses to the Los Angeles metropolitan area.     

Change in failure stress on the southern san andreas fault system caused by the 1992 magnitude = 7.4 landers earthquake

The 28 June Landers earthquake brought the San Andreas fault significantly closer to failure near San Bernardino, a site that has not sustained a large shock since 1812. Stress also increased on the San Jacinto fault near San Bernardino and on the San Andreas fault southeast of Palm Springs. Unless creep or moderate earthquakes relieve these stress changes, the next great earthquake on the southern San Andreas fault is likely to be advanced by one to two decades. In contrast, stress on the San Andreas north of Los Angeles dropped, potentially delaying the next great earthquake there by 2 to 10 years.     

Northridge earthquake damage caused by geologic focusing of seismic waves

Despite being located 21 kilometers from the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake (magnitude 6.7), the city of Santa Monica experienced anomalously concentrated damage with Mercalli intensity IX, an intensity as large as that experienced in the vicinity of the epicenter. Seismic records from aftershocks suggest that the damage resulted from the focusing of seismic waves by several underground acoustic lenses at depths of about 3 kilometers, formed by the faults that bound the northwestern edge of the Los Angeles basin. The amplification was greatest for high-frequency waves and was less powerful at lower frequencies, which is consistent with focusing theory and finite-difference simulations.     

Evidence for large earthquakes in metropolitan los angeles

The Sierra Madre fault, along the southern flank of the San Gabriel Mountains in the Los Angeles region, has failed in magnitude 7.2 to 7.6 events at least twice in the past 15,000 years. Restoration of slip on the fault indicated a minimum of about 4.0 meters of slip from the most recent earthquake and suggests a total cumulative slip of about 10.5 meters for the past two prehistoric earthquakes. Large surface displacements and strong ground motions resulting from greater than magnitude 7 earthquakes within the Los Angeles region are not yet considered in most seismic hazard and risk assessments.     

埋地管道通过活动断层区的研究

活动断层所产生的急剧错动性的地面运动,会导致如断层位移、滑坡和地陷等,对埋地管道系统造成严重的影响。研究表明,地震已严重破坏了埋地的油、气、水和污水管道,其后果表现为管道的断裂与严重扭曲。由于地震活动的危害,国内外目前对穿过活动断层区埋地管道的设计均十分重视。分别从埋地管道震害原因、埋地管道通过平推断层的当前的研究以及通过逆冲断层区的研究现状等方面,综述了埋地管道通过活动断层区的研究情况,提出了埋地管道通过逆冲断层区存在的主要问题。     

Earthquakes in the los angeles metropolitan region: a possible fractal distribution of rupture size

Although there is debate on the maximum size of earthquake that is possible on any of several known fault systems in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan region, it is reasonable to assume that the distribution of earthquakes will follow a fractal distribution of rupture areas. For this assumption and an overall slip-rate for the region of approximately 1 centimeter per year, roughly one magnitude 7.4 to 7.5 event is expected to occur every 245 to 325 years. A model in which the earthquake distribution is fractal predicts that, additionally, there should be approximately six events in the range of magnitude 6.6 in this same span of time, a higher rate than has occurred in the historic record.     

The chi-Chi earthquake sequence: active, out-of-sequence thrust faulting in taiwan

We combined precise focal depths and fault plane solutions of more than 40 events from the 20 September 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake sequence with a synthesis of subsurface geology to show that the dominant structure for generating earthquakes in central Taiwan is a moderately dipping (20 degrees to 30 degrees ) thrust fault away from the deformation front. A second, subparallel seismic zone lies about 15 kilometers below the main thrust. These seismic zones differ from previous models, indicating that both the basal decollement and relic normal faults are aseismic.     

Requirements for Floral Initiation of Los Angeles Xanthium

Cocklebur from the Los Angeles area was found to require more extensive short-day treatment for floral initiation than plants of the same species from the Chicago region. Data obtained by grafting the two regional types of cocklebur indicate that the leaves of the Los Angeles Xanthium produce a comparatively low amount of the flowering stimulus.     

A 100-year average recurrence interval for the san andreas fault at wrightwood, california

Evidence for five large earthquakes during the past five centuries along the San Andreas fault zone 70 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles, California, indicates that the average recurrence interval and the temporal variability are significantly smaller than previously thought. Rapid sedimentation during the past 5000 years in a 150-meter-wide structural depression has produced a greater than 21-meter-thick sequence of debris flow and stream deposits interbedded with more than 50 datable peat layers. Fault scarps, colluvial wedges, fissure infills, upward termination of ruptures, and tilted and folded deposits above listric faults provide evidence for large earthquakes that occurred in A.D. 1857, 1812, and about 1700, 1610, and 1470.     

Prospects for larger or more frequent earthquakes in the los angeles metropolitan region

Far too few moderate earthquakes have occurred within the Los Angeles, California, metropolitan region during the 200-year-long historic period to account for observed strain accumulation, indicating that the historic era represents either a lull between clusters of moderate earthquakes or part of a centuries-long interseismic period between much larger (moment magnitude, M(w), 7.2 to 7.6) events. Geologic slip rates and relations between moment magnitude, average coseismic slip, and rupture area show that either of these hypotheses is possible, but that the latter is the more plausible of the two. The average time between M(w) 7.2 to 7.6 earthquakes from a combination of six fault systems within the metropolitan area was estimated to be about 140 years.     

Earthquakes on dipping faults: the effects of broken symmetry

Dynamic simulations of earthquakes on dipping faults show asymmetric near-source ground motion caused by the asymmetric geometry of such faults. The ground motion from a thrust or reverse fault is larger than that of a normal fault by a factor of 2 or more, given identical initial stress magnitudes. The motion of the hanging wall is larger than that of the footwall in both thrust (reverse) and normal earthquakes. The asymmetry between normal and thrust (reverse) faults results from time-dependent normal stress caused by the interaction of the earthquake-generated stress field with Earth's free surface. The asymmetry between hanging wall and footwall results from the asymmetric mass and geometry on the two sides of the fault.     

Erratum

In the Briefing "Tyler Prize goes to Cornell scientists" (News & Comment, 30 Mar., p. 1539), it is incorrectly stated that the Tyler committee is based at the University of California at Los Angeles. The committee has been based for the past 10 years at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.     

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.     

Evidence of shallow fault zone strengthening after the 1992 M7.5 landers, california, earthquake

Repeated seismic surveys of the Landers, California, fault zone that ruptured in the magnitude (M) 7.5 earthquake of 1992 reveal an increase in seismic velocity with time. P, S, and fault zone trapped waves were excited by near-surface explosions in two locations in 1994 and 1996, and were recorded on two linear, three-component seismic arrays deployed across the Johnson Valley fault trace. The travel times of P and S waves for identical shot-receiver pairs decreased by 0.5 to 1.5 percent from 1994 to 1996, with the larger changes at stations located within the fault zone. These observations indicate that the shallow Johnson Valley fault is strengthening after the main shock, most likely because of closure of cracks that were opened by the 1992 earthquake. The increase in velocity is consistent with the prevalence of dry over wet cracks and with a reduction in the apparent crack density near the fault zone by approximately 1.0 percent from 1994 to 1996.     

Replication of apparent nonlinear seismic response with linear wave propagation models

It is necessary to understand ground-motion amplification by sediment, defined as the ratio of ground motions at sediment sites to those at rock sites, to predict seismic loadings for earthquake engineering. At sediment sites, observed weak-motion amplifications from magnitude 3 to 4 aftershocks of the 1994 Northridge earthquake were twice as large as magnitude 6.7 mainshock amplifications. Amplitude-dependent (nonlinear) amplification by sediment is one explanation. However, earthquake simulations with empirical impulse responses and elastic finite-difference calculations with weakly heterogeneous, random three-dimensional (3D) crustal velocity variations show that linear wave propagation can explain observed (apparently nonlinear) sediment responses. Random 3D velocity variations also reproduce the observed log-normal dispersion of peak ground motions. Deterministic wave propagation models are not adequate to quantify the scaling and dispersion of near-source ground motions.     

Establishment of the Mediterranean fruit fly in California

Principles of invasion biology are brought to bear on the question of whether the medfly is established in California. Since its first discovery in 1975, the pest has been captured in the Los Angeles Basin in nine separate years including every year from 1986 through 1990. The trend has become distinct--the intervals between captures are decreasing, the numbers captured are increasing, and the area over which they are detected is expanding. In addition, appearances are seasonal and captures in recent years have occurred in many of the same cities and neighborhoods where medflies were found several years before. Evidence suggests that the medfly may be established in the Los Angeles area and that previous eradication programs did not eradicate the medfly from California. It follows that detection, exclusion, and eradication protocols may need to be reexamined.