Dr. Ed Nissen - Puncturing the seismic cycle - the complexity of earthquake rupture revealed with imaging geodesy

seminaires

Dr. Ed Nissen, U. of Victoria

Vendredi 4 octobre 2019 à 11h00 - Friday, October 4, 2019 at 11am

Gill Room, FDA 232, 3450 rue Université, Université McGill

Résumé / abstract:

Résumé/Abstract:

The earthquake cycle describes the steady accumulation of strain on a locked fault, driven by plate tectonics, and the periodic release of that stored elastic energy in an earthquake. It provides the motivation for monitoring strain accumulation with GPS and the means to “forecast” earthquake magnitudes and recurrence rates using numerical models. However, recent advances in imaging geodesy — measurements of Earth’s evolving shape using satellite and airborne remote sensing — offer new insights into the rupture processes of large earthquakes which challenge this simple paradigm. In this seminar I will show how many large earthquakes are not restricted to single faults, and can even “jump” from fault to fault across gaps 10s of kilometres wide. I will demonstrate how fault slip in earthquakes may occur anelastically, without the release of stored strain in the manner normally assumed. These new observations necessitate a rethink about how we model large earthquakes and anticipate future ones.

logo seminaires

Puncturing the seismic cycle - the complexity of earthquake rupture revealed with imaging geodesy

Ajouter au calendrier 2019-10-04 11:00:00 2024-03-28 18:00:05 Dr. Ed Nissen - Puncturing the seismic cycle - the complexity of earthquake rupture revealed with imaging geodesy Résumé/Abstract: The earthquake cycle describes the steady accumulation of strain on a locked fault, driven by plate tectonics, and the periodic release of that stored elastic energy in an earthquake. It provides the motivation for monitoring strain accumulation with GPS and the means to “forecast” earthquake magnitudes and recurrence rates using numerical models. However, recent advances in imaging geodesy — measurements of Earth’s evolving shape using satellite and airborne remote sensing — offer new insights into the rupture processes of large earthquakes which challenge this simple paradigm. In this seminar I will show how many large earthquakes are not restricted to single faults, and can even “jump” from fault to fault across gaps 10s of kilometres wide. I will demonstrate how fault slip in earthquakes may occur anelastically, without the release of stored strain in the manner normally assumed. These new observations necessitate a rethink about how we model large earthquakes and anticipate future ones. Gill Room, FDA 232, 3450 rue Université, Université McGill Geotop admin@example.com America/New_York public