3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms

Ross, Zachary E.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Trugman, Daniel T.; Smith, Jonathan D.

doi:10.1126/science.abb0779

Title: 3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms

Journal Article · Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0779· OSTI ID:1739984

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California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
US Geological Survey, Pasadena, CA (United States)
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

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.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; Southern California Earthquake Center

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; 20180700PRD1; 20018

OSTI ID:: 1739984

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-20-20957

Journal Information:: Science, Vol. 368, Issue 6497; ISSN 0036-8075

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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