Pore-fluid migration and the timing of the 2005 M8.7 Nias earthquake

Lithosphere
By: , and 

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Abstract

Two great earthquakes have occurred recently along the Sunda Trench, the 2004 M9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the 2005 M8.7 Nias earthquake. These earthquakes ruptured over 1600 km of adjacent crust within 3 mo of each other. We quantitatively present poroelastic deformation analyses suggesting that postseismic fluid flow and recovery induced by the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake advanced the timing of the Nias earthquake. Simple back-slip simulations indicate that the megapascal (MPa)–scale pore-pressure recovery is equivalent to 7 yr of interseismic Coulomb stress accumulation near the Nias earthquake hypocenter, implying that pore-pressure recovery of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake advanced the timing of the Nias earthquake by ∼7 yr. That is, in the absence of postseismic pore-pressure recovery, we predict that the Nias earthquake would have occurred in 2011 instead of 2005.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Pore-fluid migration and the timing of the 2005 M8.7 Nias earthquake
Series title Lithosphere
DOI 10.1130/L109.1
Volume 3
Issue 2
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher Geological Society of America
Contributing office(s) Earthquake Science Center
Description 3 p.
First page 170
Last page 172
Other Geospatial Indian Ocean
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