Low‐velocity zones along the San Jacinto Fault, Southern California, from body waves recorded in dense linear arrays

Abstract

AbstractWe derive high‐resolution information on low‐velocity fault zone (FZ) structures along the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ), Southern California, using waveforms of local earthquakes that are recorded at multiple linear cross‐fault arrays. We observe clear across‐fault delays of direct P and S waves, indicating damage zones at different segments of the SJFZ. We then compute synthetic traveltimes and waveforms using generalized ray theory and perform forward modeling to constrain the FZ parameters. At the southern section near the trifurcation area, the low‐velocity zone (LVZ) of the Clark branch has a width of ~200 m, 30–45% reduction in Vp, and ~50% reduction in Vs. From array data across the Anza seismic gap, we find a LVZ with ~200 m width and ~50% reduction in both Vp and Vs, nearly as prominent as that on the southern section. We only find prominent LVZs beneath three out of the five arrays, indicating along‐strike variations of the fault damage. FZ‐reflected phases are considerably less clear than those observed above the rupture zone of the 1992 Landers earthquake shortly after the event. This may reflect partially healed LVZs with less sharp boundaries at the SJFZ, given the relatively long lapse time from the last large surface‐rupturing event. Alternatively, the lack of observed FZ‐reflected phases could be partially due to the relatively small aperture of the arrays. Nevertheless, the clear signatures of damage zones at Anza and other locations indicate very slow healing process, at least in the top few kilometers of the crust.