Structural Complexity Revealed by Frictional Afterslip Models and InSAR Observations Following the 2017 Mw 7.3 Sarpol- e Zahab (Iran-Iraq) Earthquake: Insights from Numerical Modeling

Abstract

The fault structures of the 12 November 2017 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake in Iran, as inferred from geodetic and geological data, exhibit significant distinctions, indicating intricate interactions between the crystalline basement and sedimentary cover. To further investigate this phenomenon, we employ interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) observations and 2-D Finite Element Models (FEM) with various fault geometries, such as planar, ramp-flat, and splay faults, to analyze mechanical (stress-driven) afterslip models for postseismic deformation. The kinematic coseismic slip model support a planar fault dipping at 15º, which is in good agreement with previously published results. Based on the coseismic model, we vary the fault geometries and explore the relationship between afterslip fault geometries and fault friction properties. We show that the planar frictional afterslip model fails to completely explain the long-wavelength postseismic deformation field. Instead, a ramp-flat fault model explains well the majority of the postseismic observations, with a maximum afterslip of approximately 1.0 m. The friction variations after fault strengthening are estimated to be about 0.001 and 0.0002 for the up-dip and down-dip portions, respectively. Expanding on the optimal ramp-flat fault model, we introduce an additional splay fault, which further improves the model fit, although the splay fault's frictional slip was limited to less than 0.2 m, and there is a trade-off between the splay fault geometries and their friction variations. Considering our results in conjunction with relocated aftershocks and geological cross-sections, we propose that a splay fault may have been weakly triggered after the mainshock, indicating more complex fault interactions than a simple decoupling layer between the basement and sedimentary cover.