Garlock Fault Research Articles

Detailed 3D Fault Representations for the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence

ABSTRACT We present new 3D source fault representations for the 2019 M 6.4 and M 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. These representations are based on relocated hypocenter catalogs expanded by template matching and focal mechanisms for M 4 and larger events. Following the approach of Riesner et al. (2017), we generate reproducible 3D fault geometries by integrating hypocenter, nodal plane, and surface rupture trace constraints. We used the southwest–northeast-striking nodal plane of the 4 July 2019 M 6.4 event to constrain the initial representation of the southern Little Lake fault (SLLF), both in terms of location and orientation. The eastern Little Lake fault (ELLF) was constrained by the 5 July 2019 M 7.1 hypocenter and nodal planes of M 4 and larger aftershocks aligned with the main trend of the fault. The approach follows a defined workflow that assigns weights to a variety of geometric constraints. These main constraints have a high weight relative to that of individual hypocenters, ensuring that small aftershocks are applied as weaker constraints. The resulting fault planes can be considered averages of the hypocentral locations respecting nodal plane orientations. For the final representation we added detailed, field-mapped rupture traces as strong constraints. The resulting fault representations are generally smooth but nonplanar and dip steeply. The SLLF and ELLF intersect at nearly right angles and cross on another. The ELLF representation is truncated at the Airport Lake fault to the north and the Garlock fault to the south, consistent with the aftershock pattern. The terminations of the SLLF representation are controlled by aftershock distribution. These new 3D fault representations are available as triangulated surface representations, and are being added to a Community Fault Model (CFM; Plesch et al., 2007, 2019; Nicholson et al., 2019) for wider use and to derived products such as a CFM trace map and viewer (Su et al., 2019).

The Predictive Skills of Elastic Coulomb Rate-and-State Aftershock Forecasts during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence

ABSTRACTOperational earthquake forecasting protocols commonly use statistical models for their recognized ease of implementation and robustness in describing the short-term spatiotemporal patterns of triggered seismicity. However, recent advances on physics-based aftershock forecasting reveal comparable performance to the standard statistical counterparts with significantly improved predictive skills when fault and stress-field heterogeneities are considered. Here, we perform a pseudoprospective forecasting experiment during the first month of the 2019 Ridgecrest (California) earthquake sequence. We develop seven Coulomb rate-and-state models that couple static stress-change estimates with continuum mechanics expressed by the rate-and-state friction laws. Our model parameterization supports a gradually increasing complexity; we start from a preliminary model implementation with simplified slip distributions and spatially homogeneous receiver faults to reach an enhanced one featuring optimized fault constitutive parameters, finite-fault slip models, secondary triggering effects, and spatially heterogenous planes informed by pre-existing ruptures. The data-rich environment of southern California allows us to test whether incorporating data collected in near-real time during an unfolding earthquake sequence boosts our predictive power. We assess the absolute and relative performance of the forecasts by means of statistical tests used within the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability and compare their skills against a standard benchmark epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model for the short (24 hr after the two Ridgecrest mainshocks) and intermediate terms (one month). Stress-based forecasts expect heightened rates along the whole near-fault region and increased expected seismicity rates in central Garlock fault. Our comparative model evaluation not only supports that faulting heterogeneities coupled with secondary triggering effects are the most critical success components behind physics-based forecasts, but also underlines the importance of model updates incorporating near-real-time available aftershock data reaching better performance than standard ETAS. We explore the physical basis behind our results by investigating the localized shut down of pre-existing normal faults in the Ridgecrest near-source area.

Were changes in stress state responsible for the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquakes?

Monitoring the Earth’s stress state plays a role in our understanding of an earthquake’s mechanism and in the distribution of hazards. Crustal deformation due to the July 2019 earthquake sequence in Ridgecrest (California) that culminated in a preceding quake of magnitude (M) 6.4 and a subsequent M7.1 quake caused stress perturbation in a nearby region, but implications of future seismicity are still uncertain. Here, the occurrence of small earthquakes is compared to larger ones, using b-values, showing that the rupture initiation from an area of low b-values, indicative of high stress, was common to both M6.4 and M7.1 quakes. The post-M7.1-quake sequence reveals that another low-b-value zone, which avoided its ruptured area, fell into an area near the Garlock fault that hosted past large earthquakes. If this area were more stressed, there would be a high-likelihood of further activation of seismicity that might influence the Garlock fault.

Earthquake spatial dynamics analysis using event synchronization method

This study focused on the earthquake network properties of Southern California. The event synchronization method was used to create an earthquake network of the aforementioned region. Local network measurements were utilized to investigate the most active and prominent subregions and their effects on the earthquake dynamics of the region. These measurements showed that two regions (the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) and the region that begins at the South end of the San Andreas Fault Zone, continues through the San Jacinto and Elsinore Faults, and terminates at the Lugano Salada Fault) dominate the earthquake dynamics of Southern California. Both regions are seismologically active and exhibit spatial continuity from the network perspective. Additionally, many cells in these regions serve as bridges for stress transfers. It appears that not only are few of these cells responsible for the earthquake dynamics at the ECSZ but also nearly the entire ECSZ region plays an important role in earthquake activity. The Garlock Fault Zone, a small region near Los Angeles, and a small region along the San Diego Trough Fault had no large earthquake during the analyzed time region, but these measurements show their potential for future activity.

Stress Changes on the Garlock Fault during and after the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence

ABSTRACTThe recent 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence in southern California jostled the seismological community by revealing a complex and cascading foreshock series that culminated in a Mw 7.1 mainshock. But the central Garlock fault, despite being located immediately south of this sequence, did not coseismically fail. Instead, the Garlock fault underwent postseismic creep and exhibited a sizeable earthquake swarm. The dynamic details of the rupture process during the mainshock are largely unknown, as is the amount of stress needed to bring the Garlock fault to failure. We present an integrated view of how stresses changed on the Garlock fault during and after the mainshock using a combination of tools including kinematic slip inversion, Coulomb stress change (ΔCFS), and dynamic rupture modeling. We show that positive ΔCFSs cannot easily explain observed aftershock patterns on the Garlock fault but are consistent with where creep was documented on the central Garlock fault section. Our dynamic model is able to reproduce the main slip asperities and kinematically estimated rupture speeds (≤2 km/s) during the mainshock, and suggests the temporal changes in normal and shear stress on the Garlock fault were the greatest near the end of rupture. The largest static and dynamic stress changes on the Garlock fault we observe from our models coincide with the creeping region, suggesting that positive stress perturbations could have caused this during or after the mainshock rupture. This analysis of near-field stress-change evolution gives insight into how the Ridgecrest sequence influenced the local stress field of the northernmost eastern California shear zone.

Seismicity, Stress State, and Style of Faulting of the Ridgecrest-Coso Region from the 1930s to 2019: Seismotectonics of an Evolving Plate Boundary Segment

ABSTRACTDecadal scale variations in the seismicity rate in the Ridgecrest-Coso region, part of the Eastern California Shear Zone, included seismic quiescence from the 1930s to the early 1980s, followed by increased seismicity until the 2019 Mw 6.4 and 7.1 Ridgecrest sequence. This sequence exhibited complex rupture on almost orthogonal faults and triggered aftershocks over an area of ∼90 km long by ∼5–10 km wide, which is a fraction of the area of the previously seismically active Indian Wells Valley and Coso range region. During the last 40 yr, the seismicity has been predominantly the result of strike-slip motion, extending north from the Garlock fault, along the Little Lake and Airport Lake fault zones, and approaching the southernmost Owens Valley fault to the north. The Coso range forms an extensional stepover between these two strike-slip fault systems. This evolution of a plate boundary zone is driven by the northwestward motion of the Sierra Nevada, and crustal extension along the southwestern edge of the Basin and Range Province. Stress inversion of focal mechanisms shows that the postseismic stress state consists of almost horizontal σ1 and vertical σ2. The σ1 is spatially rotated across the Coso range stepover with σ1-trending ∼N17° E to the north, whereas, along the Mw 7.1 mainshock rupture, the trend is ∼N6° E. The friction angles as measured between fault strikes and the σ1 trends correspond to a frictional coefficient of 0.75, suggesting average fault strength. In comparison, the mature Garlock fault has a smaller frictional coefficient of 0.28, similar to weak faults like the San Andreas fault. Thus, it appears that the heterogeneously oriented and spatially distributed but strong Ridgecrest-Coso faults accommodate seismicity at seemingly random places and times within the region and are in the process of self-organizing to form a major throughgoing plate-boundary segment.

Slip Complementarity and Triggering between the Foreshock, Mainshock, and Afterslip of the 2019 Ridgecrest Rupture Sequence

ABSTRACTWe investigate the deformation processes during the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence by combining Global Navigation Satellite Systems, strong-motion, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar datasets in a joint inversion. The spatial complementarity of slip between the Mw 6.4 foreshock, Mw 7.1 mainshock, and afterslip suggests the importance of static stress transfer as a triggering mechanism during the rupture sequence. The coseismic slip of the foreshock concentrates mainly on the east-northeast–west-southwest fault above the hypocenter at depths of 2–8 km. The slip distribution of the mainshock straddles the region above the hypocenter with two isolated patches located to the north-northwest and south-southeast, respectively. The geodetically determined moment magnitudes of the foreshock and mainshock are equivalent to moment magnitudes Mw 6.4 and 7.0, assuming a rigidity of 30 GPa. We find a significant shallow slip deficit (>60%) in the Ridgecrest ruptures, likely resulting from the immature fault system in which the sequence occurred. Rapid afterslip concentrates at depths of 2–6 km, surrounding the rupture areas of the foreshock and mainshock. The ruptures also accelerated viscoelastic flow at lower-crustal depths. The Garlock fault was loaded at several locations, begging the question of possible delayed triggering.

A Stress-Similarity Triggering Model for Aftershocks of the Mw 6.4 and 7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquakes

ABSTRACTThe July 2019 Mw 6.4 and 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquakes triggered numerous aftershocks, including clusters of off-fault aftershocks in an extensional stepover of the Garlock fault, near the town of Olancha, and near Panamint Valley. The locations of the off-fault aftershocks are consistent with the stress-similarity model of triggering, which hypothesizes that aftershocks preferentially occur in areas where the mainshock static stress change tensor is similar in orientation to the background stress tensor. The background stress field is determined from the inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms, with the spatial resolution adapted to the local density of earthquakes. The mainshock static stress change is computed using finite-source models for the Mw 6.4 foreshock and Mw 7.1 mainshock. I quantify the similarity between these two stress fields using the tensor dot product of the normalized deviatoric stress tensors. The off-fault aftershocks in the Garlock stepover and the Olancha area fall within lobes of positive stress similarity, whereas the aftershocks near Panamint Valley are partially within a lobe. The cluster in the Garlock fault stepover and the smaller of two clusters near Olancha occur in regions of locally anomalous background stress that results in higher stress similarity. I compute the spatial density of M≥2.0 aftershocks and find that the aftershock density increases as a function of stress similarity, with a factor of ∼15 difference between high stress-similarity and low stress-similarity areas. This result is robust with respect to the choice of mainshock model and the uncertainty of the background stress field. The aftershock density varies substantially inside the high stress-similarity lobes, however, indicating that other variable background conditions, such as material properties, temperature, and fluid pressure, may also be playing a role. Specifically, temperature and fluid pressure conditions might help explain the low rate of aftershocks in the Coso geothermal field.

Seismotectonics and Fault Geometries of the 2019 Ridgecrest Sequence: Insight From Aftershock Moment Tensor Catalog Using 3‐D Green's Functions

AbstractThe 2019 Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake occurred on 6 July, preceded by the Mw 6.4 foreshock on 4 July 2019. These two earthquakes occurred close in space and time with partially overlapping surface ruptures and aftershock patterns, raising the question of the relationship between the two events. Geological surveys and satellite observations provide important constraints on the surface traces of faulting. However, the subsurface fault geometries, which are important for understanding the regional stress field, earthquake initiation, propagation, and termination, are not well resolved. In this study, moment tensor solutions for 256 earthquakes in the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence were determined by waveform inversion using 3‐D velocity model. The obtained moment tensor solutions show rotations of the stresses after mainshock, indicating the ratio of mainshock stress drop to the background stress to be 0.5–0.9. The obtained moment tensor catalog also facilitates a better understanding of the subsurface fault geometries, including (1) splay faults and antithetic faults in the northwest aftershock zone; (2) shallow flower structures near the Mw 7.1 epicenter; and (3) subparallel faults in the southeast aftershock zone. The aftershocks' studies suggest the very complex surface ruptures near the 2019 Ridgecrest Mw 7.1 epicenter are near‐surface features that linked to a simple large throughgoing fault at >5 km depth. We also found that the southeastern‐most aftershocks, which are located less than a kilometer from the Garlock fault trace, have significant different strike directions from that of the Garlock fault, indicating the central Garlock fault remains seismically quiet.

Dynamic Rupture Simulations of the M6.4 and M7.1 July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquakes

AbstractThe largest earthquakes of the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, sequence were a M6.4 left‐lateral rupture followed 34 hr later by a M7.1 on a perpendicular right‐lateral fault. We use dynamic rupture modeling to address the questions of why the first earthquake did not propagate through the right‐lateral fault in one larger event, whether stress changes from the M6.4 were necessary for the M7.1 to occur, and how the Ridgecrest earthquakes affected the nearby Garlock Fault. We find that dynamic clamping and shear stress reduction confined surface rupture in the M6.4 to the left‐lateral fault. We also find that stress changes from the M6.4 were not necessary to allow a M7.1 on the right‐lateral fault but that they affected the slip and likely accelerated the timing of the M7.1. Lastly, we find that the Ridgecrest earthquakes may have brought the central Garlock Fault closer to failure.

Erratum to Constraints on Ground Accelerations Inferred from Unfractured Hoodoos near the Garlock Fault, California

Erratum to Constraints on Ground Accelerations Inferred from Unfractured Hoodoos near the Garlock Fault, California

Surface Deformation Related to the 2019 Mw 7.1 and 6.4 Ridgecrest Earthquakes in California from GPS, SAR Interferometry, and SAR Pixel Offsets

Abstract We analyzed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images from Copernicus Sentinel-1A and 1B satellites operated by the European Space Agency and the Advanced Land Observation Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) satellite operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data from the Network of the Americas for the 4 July 2019 Mw 6.4 and 5 July (local; 6 July UTC) Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquakes. We integrated geodetic measurements for the 3D vector field of coseismic surface deformation for the two events, using SAR data from Sentinel-1 and ALOS-2 satellites. We combined less precise large-scale displacements from SAR images by pixel offset tracking or matching, including the along-track component, with the more precise SAR interferometry (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar [InSAR]) measurements in the radar line of sight (LoS) direction and intermediate-precision along-track InSAR to estimate all three components of the surface displacement for the two events together. We also estimated the coseismic deformation for the two earthquakes from time-series processing of continuous Global Navigation Satellite System data stations in the area. InSAR coherence and coherence change maps the surface disruptions due to fault ruptures reaching the surface. Large slip in the Mw 6.4 earthquake was on a NE-striking fault that intersects with the NW-striking fault that was the main rupture in the Mw 7.1 earthquake. The main fault bifurcates towards the southeast ending 3 km from the Garlock Fault. The Garlock fault had triggered slip of about 20 mm in the radar LoS along a short section directly south of the main rupture. About 3 km northwest of the Mw 7.1 epicenter, the surface fault separates into two strands that form a pull-apart with about 1 m of down-drop. Further northwest is a wide zone of complex deformation.

Survey and Continuous GNSS in the Vicinity of the July 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquakes

Abstract The Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest, California, earthquakes of July 2019 occurred within 34 hr of each other on conjugate strike-slip faults in the Mojave Desert, just north of the central Garlock fault. Here, we present the results of a survey of 18 Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) sites conducted in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes, including five sites that recorded the motion of the second earthquake after having been set up immediately following the first, as well as processed results from continuous GNSS sites throughout the region. Our field work in response to the earthquakes provides additional constraints on the ground displacement due to both earthquakes, complementing data from a spatially sparser network of continuously recording GNSS sites in the area, as well as temporally sparser Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar data that were able to capture a combined deformation signal from the two earthquakes.

Caltech/USGS Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC): Data Availability for the 2019 Ridgecrest Sequence

Abstract The 2019 Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). The mainshock ruptured the Little Lake fault zone, and aftershocks extended from the Garlock fault in the south to the southern end of the 1872 M 7.5 Owens Valley earthquake rupture in the north. We present data from the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and partner seismic networks recorded by the SCSN in the region. These time-series data and related products such as the SCSN earthquake picks and catalogs, available from the Southern California Earthquake Data Center, provide the most comprehensive seismic datasets for the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence.

Coseismic Displacements and Surface Fractures from Sentinel-1 InSAR: 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquakes

Abstract Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar is an important tool for imaging surface deformation from large continental earthquakes. Here, we present maps of coseismic displacement and strain from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes using multiple Sentinel-1 images. We provide three types of interferometric products. (1) Standard interferograms from two look directions provide an overview of the deformation and can be used for modeling coseismic slip. (2) Phase gradient maps from stacks of coseismic interferograms provide high-resolution (∼30 m) images of strain concentration and surface fracturing that can be used to guide field surveys. (3) High-pass filtered, stacked, unwrapped phase is decomposed into east–west and up–down, south–north components and is used to determine the sense of fault slip. The resulting phase gradient maps reveal over 300 surface fractures, including triggered slip on the Garlock fault. The east–west component of high-pass filtered phase reveals the polarity of the strike-slip offset (right lateral or left lateral) for many of the fractures. We find a small number of fractures that have slip polarity that is retrograde to the background tectonic stress. This is similar to observations of retrograde slip observed near the 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine rupture, but the Ridgecrest observations are more completely imaged by the frequent and high-quality acquisitions from the twin Sentinel-1 spacecrafts. Determining whether the retrograde features are triggered slip on existing faults, or compliant fault deformation in response to stress changes from the Ridgecrest earthquakes, or new Coulomb-style failures, will require additional field work, modeling, and analysis.

The July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence Recorded by Creepmeters: Negligible Epicentral Afterslip and Prolonged Triggered Slip at Teleseismic Distances

AbstractWe report sequential triggered slip at 271–384 km distances on the San Andreas, Superstition Hills, and Imperial faults with an apparent travel-time speed of 2.2 ± 0.1 km/s, following the passage of surface waves from the 4 July 2019 (17:33:49 UTC) Mw 6.4 and 6 July 2019 (03:19:53 UTC) Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquakes. Slip on remote faults was not triggered instantaneously but developed over several minutes, increasing in duration with distance. Maximum slip amplitudes varied from 10 μm to 5 mm within minutes of slip nucleation, but on the southernmost San Andreas fault slip continued for two months and was followed on 16 September 2019 by a swarm of microearthquakes (Mw≤3.8) near Bombay Beach. These observations add to a growing body of evidence that fault creep may result in delayed triggered seismicity. Displacements across surface faults in the southern epicentral region and on the Garlock fault in the months following the Ridgecrest earthquakes were negligible (<1.1 mm), and they are interpreted to characterize surface strain adjustments in the epicentral region, rather than to result from discrete slip on surface faults.

Cascading and pulse-like ruptures during the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes in the Eastern California Shear Zone

On July 4 2019, a Mw 6.5 earthquake, followed 34 h later by a Mw 7.1 event, struck Searles Valley, California. These events are part of a long-lived cluster of historical earthquakes along the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) which started in 1872 and are associated with temporarily elevated strain rates. We find that the Mw 6.5 event initiated on a right-lateral NW striking fault and then ruptured a left-lateral fault to the surface. This event triggered right-lateral slip during the Mw 7.1 earthquake. It started as a bilateral, crack-like rupture on a segment brought closer to failure by the Mw 6.5 event. The rupture evolved to pulse-like as it propagated at a relatively slow velocity (2 km/s) along a segment that was unloaded by the Mw 6.5 event. It stopped abruptly at the Coso volcanic area and at the Garlock Fault and brought some neighbouring faults closer to failure.

Pliocene-Pleistocene basin evolution along the Garlock fault zone, Pilot Knob Valley, California

Pliocene-Pleistocene basin evolution along the Garlock fault zone, Pilot Knob Valley, California

The July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence: Kinematics of Slip and Stressing in Cross‐Fault Ruptures

AbstractThe July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence produced cross‐fault ruptures from a Mw6.4 left‐lateral foreshock and a Mw7.1 right‐lateral mainshock. We use interferometric synthetic aperture radar and satellite optical imagery to characterize the surface displacements and subsurface fault slip characteristics of the sequence. We document ~46 km of surface rupture and peak slip values of ~5 m associated with the Mw7.1 and evidence that the two ruptures crossed each other. We additionally document evidence of triggered creep along 20–25 km of the central Garlock fault. Static stress change analysis shows that the foreshock sequence systematically promoted slip at the Mw7.1 hypocenter. Moreover, we find static stress changes promoted slip on the Garlock fault only in locations where we document surface creep, strongly indicating that the Garlock fault is sensitive to static stress changes. A potential rupture of the Garlock fault where slip was promoted could produce a Mw6.7–7.0 earthquake.

Eikonal Tomography of the Southern California Plate Boundary Region

AbstractWe use Eikonal tomography to derive phase and group velocities of surface waves for the plate boundary region in Southern California. Seismic noise data in the period range 2 and 20 s recorded in year 2014 by 346 stations with ~1‐ to 30‐km station spacing are analyzed. Rayleigh and Love wave phase travel times are measured using vertical‐vertical and transverse‐transverse noise cross correlations, and group travel times are derived from the phase measurements. Using the Eikonal equation for each location and period, isotropic phase and group velocities and 2‐psi azimuthal anisotropy are determined statistically with measurements from different virtual sources. Starting with the SCEC Community Velocity Model, the observed 2.5‐ to 16‐s isotropic phase and group dispersion curves are jointly inverted on a 0.05° × 0.05° grid to obtain local 1‐D piecewise shear wave velocity (Vs) models. Compared to the starting model, the final results have generally lower Vs in the shallow crust (top 3–10 km), particularly in areas such as basins and fault zones. The results also show clear velocity contrasts across the San Andreas, San Jacinto, Elsinore, and Garlock Faults and suggest that the San Andreas Fault southeast of San Gorgonio Pass is dipping to the northeast. Investigation of the nonuniqueness of the 1‐D Vs inversion suggests that imaging the top 3‐km Vs structure requires either shorter period (≤2 s) surface wave dispersion measurements or other types of data set such as Rayleigh wave ellipticity.