The Aftershock Sequence of the 2008 Achaia, Greece, Earthquake: Joint Analysis of Seismicity Relocation and Persistent Scatterers Interferometry

Abstract

On 8 June 2008 an earthquake of Mw6.4 took place in the northwestern part of Peloponnese, Greece. The main shock was felt in a wide area and caused appreciable damage along the main rupture area and particularly at the antipodal of the main shock epicenter fault edge, implying strongly unilateral rupture and stopping phase effects. Abundant aftershocks were recorded within an area of ~50 km in length in the period 8 June 2008–end of 2014, by a sufficient number of stations that secure location accuracy because the regional network is adequately dense in the area. All the available phases from seismological stations in epicentral distances up to 140 km until the end of 2014 were used for relocation with the double difference technique and waveform cross-correlation. A quite clear 3-D representation is obtained for the aftershock zone geometry and dimensions, revealing the main rupture and the activated adjacent fault segments. SAR data are processed using Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers (StaMPS) and a surface deformation map constructed based on PS point displacement for the coseismic period. A variable slip model, with maximum slip of ~1.0 m located at the lower part of the rupture plane, is suggested and used for calculating the deformation field which was found in adequate agreement with geodetic measurements. With the same slip model the static stress changes were calculated evidencing possible triggering of the neighboring faults that were brought closer to failure. The data availability allowed monitoring the temporal variation of b values that after a continuous increase in the first 5 days, returned and stabilized to 1.0–1.1 in the following years. The fluctuation duration is considered as the equivalent time for fault healing, which appeared very short but in full accordance with the cessation of onto-fault seismicity.