The vibrant evolutionary patterns made by earthquake swarms are incompatible with standard, effectively two-dimensional (2D) models for general fault architecture. Here we leverage advances in earthquake monitoring with a deep-learning algorithm to image a fault zone hosting a 4-year-long swarm in southern California. We infer that fluids are naturally injected into the fault zone from below and diffuse through strike-parallel channels while triggering earthquakes. A permeability barrier initially limits up-dip swarm migration but ultimately is circumvented. This enables fluid migration within a shallower section of the fault with fundamentally different mechanical properties. Our observations provide high-resolution constraints on the processes by which swarms initiate, grow, and arrest. These findings illustrate how swarm evolution is strongly controlled by 3D variations in fault architecture.
Ross, Zachary E., Cochran, Elizabeth S., Trugman, Daniel T., & Smith, Jonathan D. (2020). 3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms. Science, 368(6497). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0779
Ross, Zachary E., Cochran, Elizabeth S., Trugman, Daniel T., et al., "3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms," Science 368, no. 6497 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0779
@article{osti_1739984,
author = {Ross, Zachary E. and Cochran, Elizabeth S. and Trugman, Daniel T. and Smith, Jonathan D.},
title = {3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms},
annote = {The vibrant evolutionary patterns made by earthquake swarms are incompatible with standard, effectively two-dimensional (2D) models for general fault architecture. Here we leverage advances in earthquake monitoring with a deep-learning algorithm to image a fault zone hosting a 4-year-long swarm in southern California. We infer that fluids are naturally injected into the fault zone from below and diffuse through strike-parallel channels while triggering earthquakes. A permeability barrier initially limits up-dip swarm migration but ultimately is circumvented. This enables fluid migration within a shallower section of the fault with fundamentally different mechanical properties. Our observations provide high-resolution constraints on the processes by which swarms initiate, grow, and arrest. These findings illustrate how swarm evolution is strongly controlled by 3D variations in fault architecture.},
doi = {10.1126/science.abb0779},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1739984},
journal = {Science},
issn = {ISSN 0036-8075},
number = {6497},
volume = {368},
place = {United States},
publisher = {AAAS},
year = {2020},
month = {06}}
Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention – MICCAI 2015: 18th International Conference, Munich, Germany, October 5-9, 2015, Proceedings, Part IIIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24574-4_28