Abstract
Abstract. To understand the generation of the 2008 Wen-chuan, China earthquake, we developed a strategy to objectively identify possible seismic precursors. Based on the pattern informatics (PI) method, the pattern of seismic anomaly was identified by the aid of genetic algorithms (GA) to be highly similar to the spatial distribution of the Wen-chuan earthquake sequence. We found that smaller earthquakes (M < 4.4) showed a linear relationship of Gutenberg-Richter (G-R) distribution. However, the frequency of the intermediate earthquakes (M ≥ 4.4) showed an uplift. This uplift supports the seismic activation hypothesis developed by Rundle et al. (2000b) and is similar to the case of the 1999 Chi-chi, Taiwan earthquake sequence reported by Chen (2003).
Highlights
The Si-chuan basin in China was struck by a sudden and extremely destructive earthquake on 12 May 2008 06:28:04 (UTC)
The seismic anomaly displayed in the Pattern informatics (PI) map showed high spatial similarity to the distribution of the Wen-chuan main shock and following big aftershocks
The sudden jump of the G-R curve for the change interval indicated that, relative to smaller earthquakes, the seismicity larger than 4.4 in magnitude was more active during the interval. We thought that this characteristic represented seismic activation and could be referred to the seismic activation hypothesis proposed by Rundle et al (2000b)
Summary
The Si-chuan basin in China was struck by a sudden and extremely destructive earthquake on 12 May 2008 06:28:04 (UTC). Since this region is located where the Himalaya mountain belt and the Eurasian plate collide, the Sichuan basin is a high seismic area. Several researchers have pointed out the high seismic hazard in this region, no details have been provided about how such a big earthquake is generated (Densmore et al, 2007; Long et al, 2006). This situation motivated us to research the characteristics of the seismicity before the Wen-chuan earthquake using a developed statistical tool, pattern informatics
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