The Enola, Arkansas, Intraplate Swarm of 2001

Autor: Mitch Withers, Steve Horton, Paul Bodin, Ivan Rabak, Christine Powell, Charles Langston
Rok vydání: 2010
Předmět:
Zdroj: Seismological Research Letters. 81:549-559
ISSN: 0895-0695
Popis: The 2001 Enola earthquake sequence started with an M 4.4 mainshock and was followed by 2,500 earthquakes in two months, confined in a crustal volume of 8 km 3 , at depths between 4 and 6 km. We have computed precise absolute and relative hypocentral locations using relative travel times based on waveform cross-correlation and a double-difference relative hypocentral location method. Focal mechanisms were computed using P-, SV -, and SH -wave polarities. Highly similar strike-slip focal mechanisms are consistent with the stress regime of the mid-continent province. The swarm volume produced two clusters of earthquakes at different depths and times. We speculate that these clusters represent a system of conduits possibly filled by fluids. The focal mechanisms of the first, seismically deeper sequence show a strong thrust component, while the later and shallower cluster solutions show predominant strike-slip motion. Daily seismicity rates reveal short and sudden increases in activity rather than typical aftershock decay. A b -value of 0.9 is observed for the entire swarm. The sequence appears to recapitulate aspects of a more intense earthquake swarm in the same area in 1981.
Databáze: OpenAIRE