A hybrid source mechanism of the 2017 Mw 6.5 Jiuzhaigou earthquake revealed by the joint inversion of strong-motion, teleseismic and InSAR data

Abstract

As occurred during the tourist season, the 2017 Mw 6.5 Jiuzhaigou (China) earthquake led to destructive damages. The seismogenic fault of this event was merely speculated to be the northern extension of the Huya fault, while no apparent surface ruptures were discovered in the field investigation. Previous studies and released moment tensor solutions indicated the Jiuzhaigou earthquake was dominated by left-lateral strike slip with partial normal-slip component. It seems unintelligible that the normal slip occurred in this event as the epicenter was located near the boundary of convergent blocks. Hence, a reasonable and elaborate source rupture model is necessary to investigate such a blind fault and the role it plays in the complex fault system of this region. Combining space-based geodetic, teleseismic or regional seismic observations can provide detailed information about earthquake ruptures. We first attempted to determine the fault geometry using the Bayesian approach with synthetic aperture radar interferograms (InSAR). And then the fault geometry was refined based on the relocated aftershock distribution, and a two-segment fault model was constructed. Based on the two-segment model, we resolved the source rupture process of the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake through the joint inversion of strong-motion, teleseismic body-wave and InSAR data. The inversion results reveal a hybrid source mechanism, in which normal and thrust slips coexist besides the strike-slip component. We suggest that the eastward motion with the extrusion of the lower crustal flow in the northeastern margin of the Bayan Har block is responsible for such a faulting behavior. The co-seismic Coulomb stress changes show a significant stress loading in the western segment of the Tazang fault, increasing its seismic hazard. Due to the lack of aftershocks to the southeast of the seismogenic fault, the probably enhanced seismicity in the northern segment of the Huya fault is also worth further attention.