SRCMOD: An Online Database of Finite-Fault Rupture Models

Abstract

This contribution to the Electronic Seismologist presents the online SRCMOD database of finite‐fault rupture models for past earthquakes, accessible at http://equake-rc.info/srcmod. Finite‐fault earthquake source inversions have become a standard tool in seismological research. Using seismic data, these inversions image the spatiotemporal rupture evolution on one or more assumed fault segments. If geodetic data are used, the source inversions put constraints on the fault geometry and the static slip distribution (i.e., final displacements over the fault surfaces). Joint inversions, using a combination of available seismic, geodetic, and potentially other data, try to match all observations to develop a more comprehensive image of the rupture process. Some joint inversions use all data simultaneously, whereas others take an iterative approach wherein one set of observations is utilized to construct an initial (prior) model for subsequent inversions using other available data. The field of finite‐fault inversion was pioneered in the early 1980s (Olson and Apsel, 1982; Hartzell and Heaton, 1983). Subsequently, their method has been applied to numerous earthquakes (e.g., Hartzell, 1989; Hartzell et al. , 1991; Wald et al. , 1991; Hartzell and Langer, 1993; Wald et al. , 1993; Wald and Somerville, 1995), while simultaneously additional source‐inversion strategies were developed and applied (e.g., Beroza and Spudich, 1988; Beroza, 1991; Hartzell and Lui, 1995; Hartzell et al. , 1996; Zeng and Anderson, 1996). It is beyond the scope of this article to provide a detailed review of source‐inversion methods, their theoretical bases, implementations, and parameterizations; instead, we refer to Ide (2007) for a more comprehensive summary. Finite‐fault source inversions help to shape our understanding of the complexity of the earthquake rupture process. These source images provide information, albeit at rather low spatial resolution, of earthquake slip at depth, and potentially also on the temporal rupture evolution. …