Geology topics

Research about Loma Prieta, San Andreas Fault

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Loma Prieta, San Andreas Fault.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2012

Source characteristics of the Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 18, 1989 from global digital seismic data

Displacement, velocity and acceleration records of P and SH body waves recorded at teleseismic distances are analysed to determine the static and dynamic source parameters of the Loma Prieta, California earthquake of October 18, 1989 ( m b 6.6, M s 7.1). Three distinct bursts of energy corresponding to three subevents can be recognized in most records. The displacement waveforms indicate that the first subevent contributes negligible moment while the largest releases of moment and energy are controlled by the second and third subevents. The second and third subevents are located north and south of the initial nucleation. A fourth small subevent needed to model later features of the P waveforms suggests that slow slip continued after the major releases of energy occurred. The waveforms are fit with a fault plane solution having strike 130°, dip 65° and slip 140° for all the subevents. The focal depths of the two major subevents are 16 and 12 km, and their asperity radii are 4.0 and 6.0 km, respectively. The seismic moment, M 0 , is 2.2×10 26 dyne-cm. From spectral analysis of teleseismic velocity, the radiated energy, E s , is estimated to be 1.1×10 22 dyne-cm, implying an apparent stress of 15 bars. From the high-frequency level of the teleseismic acceleration spectrum and a rupture area of 440 km 2 , we derive a dynamic stress drop of 51 bars.

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USGS2012

Aftershock slip behavior of the 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake

An analysis of 745 aftershocks of the M 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake of 17 October, 1989 reveals a wide variety of focal mechansims. At the northwestern end of the aftershock zone earthquakes that apparently occurred off the main rupture plane exhibit mechanisms with predominantly reverse slip on planes nearly parallel to the San Andreas fault. At the southeastern end the mechanisms exhibit right-lateral motion on near-vertical planes, suggesting that these aftershocks involve slip on the San Andreas fault. Few of the aftershock mechanisms in the central zone resemble the main shock mechanism (strike N130°E, dip 70°SW, rake 140°), but instead exhibit reverse, right-lateral, left-lateral, and normal motion on planes subparallel to the main shock rupture plane. The dip of the aftershock zone is parallel to the main shock slip plane and includes the main shock hypocenter. However, the lack of agreement between of the main shock and the aftershock mechanisms suggests that few of the aftershocks occurred on the main shock slip plane. This behavior is consistent with observations of aftershock sequences for other dip-slip events and also with studies indicating that main shock rupture zones are at all other times mostly aseismic. If the stress drop for the main shock relieved most of the tectonic stress, the mechanisms could reflect the heterogeneity of the near-field stress redistribution. Alternatively the variety of the aftershock mechanisms may reflect deformation by block motion within a narrow zone adjacent to the main shock rupture plane.

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USGS2012

Seismomagnetic effect generated by the October, 1989, ML, 7.1 Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake

A differentially connected array of proton magnetometers operated within the epicentral region of the October 18, 1989, M L 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake for 12 years from 1974 to 1986. The closest magnetometer station was located 7.3 km from the epicenter of the earthquake and within 3 km of the site where anomalous ULF magnetic noise measurements were observed. Following the earthquake, the magnetometers were reinstalled with sensors replaced in the original undisturbed sensor holders. Comparison of pre-1986 total intensity magnetic field data with data obtained during the months following the earthquake indicate local offsets of about 1 nT may have been generated at stations nearest the epicenter. Tests on other continuous differenced data from 1983 to present indicate that offsets determined could be biased by as much as 0.7 nT. The offsets can be approximately fit with a simple seismomagnetic model of the earthquake for which 1.9 m of right lateral and 1.3 m of dip slip (southwest side up) occurred on a fault patch between 6 km and 18 km deep and 45 km long. The total rock magnetization is assumed to be 1.5 A/m. Since the offset has persisted following the earthquake, an alternate explanation in terms of electokinetic effects is unlikely even though transient ground water flow occurred following the earthquake. Comparison of pre-1986 and similar post-seismic total magnetic field noise does not indicate any change caused by aliasing of ULF (0.01 Hz-10 Hz) magnetic noise in the vicinity of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

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USGS2012

The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake and its aftershocks: Geometry of the sequence from high-resolution locations

Hypocenters of the Loma Prieta sequence form a dipping zone that rises from the mainshock hypocenter and is parallel to the mainshock nodal plane. Most aftershocks cluster around the perimeter of the zone, surrounding a relatively aseismic center which approximates the region of mainshock rupture. At its southeastern end, the dipping aftershock zone warps into a vertical surface that corresponds to the San Andreas fault. In the central and northwestern parts of the zone at depths above ∼10 km, the aftershocks define numerous disjoint fault structures. The large component of reverse-slip observed in this event agrees with a simple model for slip on a dipping plane within a compressional fault bend. We do not believe that the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on the Sargent fault. However, we are unable to conclude whether it ruptured the principal plate boundary fault or a less frequently active fault.

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USGS2012

Seismicity in the twenty years preceding the Loma Prieta California Earthquake

Persistent seismicity occurred at a low rate during at least the twenty years before the Loma Prieta earthquake along the 60 km-long rupture zone. The depth distribution of this seismicity forms a broad “U”-shape that delineates the previously locked rupture zone. Relocations of seismicity during the ten years before the earthquake relative to the Loma Prieta aftershocks show that this “U”-shaped distribution can be partitioned lengthwise into activity on two adjacent subparallel structures: a vertical fault beneath the San Andreas fault trace and an eastward-dipping blind fault beneath the Sargent fault trace. The 11–18 km deep, southwest-dipping part of the Loma Prieta rupture was not active during at least the preceding ten years. The slip geometry of intersecting fault structures in this zone could contribute to both the preparation process and the complexity of the rupture.

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USGS2012

Coseismic stress changes induced by the 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake

Earthquake focal mechanisms from before and after the 1989 Loma Prieta, California earthquake are used to infer the coseismic stress change. Before the main shock, most earthquakes correspond to right lateral slip on planes sub-parallel to the San Andreas fault, and imply a generally N-S most compressional stress axis and a vertical intermediate stress axis. Aftershocks within the main shock rupture zone, however, display almost every style and orientation of faulting, implying an extremely heterogeneous stress field. This suggests that the main shock relieved most, if not all, of the shear stress acting on its fault plane. Aftershocks that lie on the perimeter of the rupture agree with spatially uniform stress states, but only when considered in three groups: north, south, and above the main shock rupture area. In each of these areas the stress state may reflect stress transfer by the main shock.

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USGS2012

Aseismic slip on the San Andreas Fault south of Loma Prieta

Two digital creepmeters installed within the San Andreas fault zone after the 18 Oct 1989 Loma Prieta main shock show less than 1 cm of post seismic right-lateral slip in the four months following the earthquake. At Mt. Madonna road a 23 mm coseismic fracture slipped a further 3 mm after heavy rain, and at Nyland Ranch near San Juan Bautista the fault slipped approximately 9 mm starting 42 days after the main shock. If the current trend at Nyland Ranch persists, more than 2 cm of post seismic slip will develop by 1991. At both sites minor left-lateral displacements occurred which are attributed to near-surface soil effects. The abutments of the railroad bridge across the Pajaro River at Chittenden, which were extended by the 1906 earthquake, were not extended during the Loma Prieta event although they have evidently moved apart by more than 7 cm since bridge reconstruction in 1940. This corresponds to 10 cm of right-lateral slip which could be related to M>5 events in mid-century or could be due to aseismic slip at a mean rate of 2.1 mm/a. The absence of significant surface slip within the fault zone in the decades before and the months following the Loma Prieta event suggests either that near-surface deformation is distributed over a wide zone or that a slip deficit remains. Several authors have proposed this region as a future location for M≈5 events.

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USGS2012

Seismic slip, segmentation, and the Loma Prieta Earthquake

We have plotted the cumulative seismic slip projected onto a vertical plane for earthquakes occurring during the last 20 years along 210 km of the San Andreas fault that includes the section that moved in the Loma Prieta earthquake. These plots illustrate the differences in depth and character of the seismicity between the locked and creeping portions of the fault or fault zone and define the segment upon which the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred. Working by analogy from the relation between pre-main shock microseismicity and presumed main shock slip regions at Parkfield and Loma Prieta, we identify a segment on the San Francisco Peninsula where we believe the M 7 1838 earthquake occurred, and which we believe may have accumulated sufficient strain that rupture should be expected in the coming decades.

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