Earthquakes in Nevada triggered by the Landers, California earthquake, June 28, 1992
- Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States). Seismological Lab.
Within 24 hours after the Landers earthquake, there were 11 magnitude 3.4+ events in the western Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert and a general increase in the rate of small events. Based on the previous 25 year combined catalog for northern and southern Nevada and eastern California, and using a quantitative model that assumes statistical independence of these regions, the probability of this happening by random changes is less than once in [approximately]10[sup 10] years. Therefore, it appears that these were triggered by the Landers event. The three events that define an upper bound to the magnitude of triggered events with distance were: Mina, 500 kilometers from Landers, M4.0, 36 minutes after Landers; Smith Valley, 590 kilometers from Landers, M3.4, 56 minutes after Landers; Little Skull Mountain, 280 kilometers from Landers, M5.6, 22.3 hours after Landers. These events are not associated with known volcanic activity or ongoing aftershock sequences. Earthquakes have been triggered in southern Nevada before, by nuclear testing and by filling of Lake Mead. Prior seismicity in the regions where triggering occurred was quite varied, and does not hold a clue about whether triggering is likely. The authors speculate that these events are triggered by the dynamic low-frequency stress associated with surface waves propagating from the Landers earthquake. A quantitative model for the strains, at the hypocentral depths of the triggered earthquakes, from significant prior events demonstrates that the Landers earthquake caused larger strains at low frequencies than other recent earthquakes of any magnitude and distance, but high frequency strains from some of the other recent earthquakes have had higher spectral amplitudes than what was expected from Landers. Prior events, including the Loma Prieta and Petrolia earthquakes, did not trigger any seismicity in the same region.
- OSTI ID:
- 5423425
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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