Joint inversion of GPS and high-resolution GRACE gravity data for the 2012 Wharton basin earthquakes

Abstract

The Wharton basin is situated in the north-eastern part of the Indian Ocean. In 2012 it hosted the largest intraplate strike-slip earthquakes ever recorded by geophysical networks. The Mw 8.6 earthquake of April 11, 2012, was preceded by a major foreshock (Mw 7.2) on January 10 and was followed two hours afterward by a Mw 8.2 event. These three large events occurred at the diffuse boundary between the Indian and Australian plates and were almost pure strike-slips on sub-vertical rupture surfaces. Using GRACE data, we first extracted the coseismic and postseismic gravity signals caused by these earthquakes. Then we fitted both GPS and the highest available spatial resolution of GRACE data using the geometry of the fault system suggested by Hill et al. (2015). We propose a regularization, which allows to solve for a linear problem in order to invert GPS and GRACE data under constraints on the rake angle. Our inversion yields a uniform displacement field on all elements of a given fault plane. Our solution shows that even the main displacement occurred on WNW trending faults, comparable displacement also occurred on a rupture striking NNE. Hence, we show that the deformation in this diffuse plate boundary region in 2012 was accommodated by displacements along both fault-systems.A viscoelastic relaxation of the asthenosphere with a Maxwell viscosity 1019 Pa∙s successfully explains the postseismic displacements at GPS sites and postseismic gravity signals. The limited postseismic aftershock activity suggests small postseismic slip in the area of the 2012 Wharton earthquakes contrary to what is often observed after large subduction event. Because a part of the observed signal could be related to afterslip, our obtained Maxwell viscosity value should be considered as a lower limit of the asthenospheric viscosity below the Wharton basin.