Matthew W. Herman
Ginevra Moore
Gavin P. Hayes
Harley M. Benz
Eric A. Bergman
Sergio E Barrientos
Jennifer Nealy
2017
<p><span>In April 2017, a sequence of earthquakes offshore Valparaíso, Chile, raised concerns of a potential megathrust earthquake in the near future. The largest event in the 2017 sequence was a </span><i>M</i><span>6.9 on 24 April, seemingly colocated with the last great-sized earthquake in the region—a<span> </span></span><i>M</i><span>8.0 in March 1985. The history of large earthquakes in this region shows significant variation in rupture size and extent, typically highlighted by a juxtaposition of large ruptures interspersed with smaller magnitude sequences. We show that the 2017 sequence ruptured an area between the two main slip patches during the 1985 earthquake, rerupturing a patch that had previously slipped during the October 1973<span> </span></span><i>M</i><span>6.5 earthquake sequence. A significant gap in historic ruptures exists directly to the south of the 2017 sequence, with large enough moment deficit to host a great-sized earthquake in the near future, if it is locked.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1002/2017GL074767
en
AGU Publications
2017 Valparaíso earthquake sequence and the megathrust patchwork of central Chile
article