Thrust faulting and 3D ground deformation of the 3 July 2015 Mw 6.4 Pishan, China earthquake from Sentinel-1A radar interferometry

Abstract

Boosted by the launch of Sentinel-1A radar satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA), we now have the opportunity of fast, full and multiple coverage of the land based deformation field of earthquakes. Here we use the data to investigate a strong earthquake struck Pishan, western China on July 3, 2015. The earthquake fault is blind and no ground break features are found on-site, thus Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data give full play to its technical advantage for the recovery of coseismic deformation field. By using the Sentinel-1A radar data in the Interferometric Wide Swath mode, we obtain 3 tracks of InSAR data over the struck region, and resolve the 3D ground deformation generated by the earthquake. Then the Line-of-Sight (LOS) InSAR data are inverted for the slip-distribution of the seismogenic fault.The final model shows that the earthquake is completely blind with pure-thrust motion. The maximum slip is ~0.48m at a depth of ~7km, consistent with the depth estimate from seismic reflection data. In particular, the inverted model is also compatible with a south-dipping fault ramp among a group of fault interfaces detected by the seismic reflection profile over the region. The seismic moment obtained equals to a Mw 6.4 earthquake. The Pishan earthquake ruptured the frontal part of the thrust ramps under the Slik anticline, and unloaded the coulomb stress of them. However, it may have loaded stress to the back-thrust above the thrust ramps by ~1–4bar, and promoted it for future failure. Moreover, the stress loading on the west side of the earthquake fault is much larger than that on the east side, indicating a higher risk for failure to the west of the Zepu fault.