Shallow subsurface structure of the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture at Paganica, investigated with ground-penetrating radar

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Ground Penetrating Radar, Palaeoseismology, Seismicity And Tectonics, Continental Tectonics: Extensional

Scientific paper

The shallow subsurface structure of the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture at Paganica has been investigated with ground penetrating radar to study how the surface rupture relates spatially to previous surface displacements during the Holocene and Pleistocene. The discontinuous surface rupture stepped between en-echelon/parallel faults within the overall fault zone that show clear Holocene/Pleistocene offsets in the top 10 m of the subsurface. Some portions of the fault zone that show clear Holocene offsets were not ruptured in 2009, having been bypassed as the rupture stepped across a relay zone onto a fault across strike. The slip vectors, defined by opening directions across surface cracks, indicate dip-slip normal movement, whose azimuth remained constant between 210° and 228° across the zone where the rupture stepped between faults. We interpret maximum vertical offsets of the base of the Holocene summed across strike to be 4.5 m, which if averaged over 15 kyr, gives a maximum throw-rate of 0.23-0.30 mm yr-1, consistent with throw-rates implied by vertical offsets of a layer whose age we assume to be ~33 ka. This compares with published values of 0.4 mm yr-1 for a minimum slip rate implied by offsets of Middle Pleistocene tephras, and 0.24 mm yr-1 since 24.8 kyr from palaeoseismology. The Paganica Fault, although clearly an important active structure, is not slipping fast enough to accommodate all of the 3-5 mm yr-1 of extension across this sector of the Apennines; other neighbouring range-bounding active normal faults also have a role to play in the seismic hazard.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Shallow subsurface structure of the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture at Paganica, investigated with ground-penetrating radar does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Shallow subsurface structure of the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture at Paganica, investigated with ground-penetrating radar, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Shallow subsurface structure of the 2009 April 6 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture at Paganica, investigated with ground-penetrating radar will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1482993

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.