Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 23 July 1993:
Vol. 261. no. 5120, pp. 433 - 438
DOI: 10.1126/science.261.5120.433
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

The Cape Mendocino, California, Earthquakes of April 1992: Subduction at the Triple Junction

D. Oppenheimer 1, J. Eaton 1, A. Jayko 1, M. Lisowski 1, G. Marshall 1, M. Murray 1, R. Simpson 1, R. Stein 1, G. Beroza 2, M. Magee 2, G. Carver 3, L. Dengler 3, R. McPherson 3, L. Gee 4, B. Romanowicz 4, F. Gonzalez 5, W. H. Li 6, K. Satake 7, P. Somerville 8, and D. Valentine 9

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025
2 Geophysics Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
3 Department of Geology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521
4 University of California, Seismographic Station, ESB 475, Berkeley, CA 94720
5 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA 98115
6 Geological Sciences, AJ-20, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
7 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
8 Woodward-Clyde Consultants, Pasadena, CA 91101
9 Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

The 25 April 1992 magnitude 7.1 Cape Mendocino thrust earthquake demonstrated that the North America—Gorda plate boundary is seismogenic and illustrated hazards that could result from much larger earthquakes forecast for the Cascadia region. The shock occurred just north of the Mendocino Triple Junction and caused strong ground motion and moderate damage in the immediate area. Rupture initiated onshore at a depth of 10.5 kilometers and propagated up-dip and seaward. Slip on steep faults in the Gorda plate generated two magnitude 6.6 aftershocks on 26 April. The main shock did not produce surface rupture on land but caused coastal uplift and a tsunami. The emerging picture of seismicity and faulting at the triple junction suggests that the region is likely to continue experiencing significant seismicity.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Late Holocene Rupture of the Northern San Andreas Fault and Possible Stress Linkage to the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
C. Goldfinger, K. Grijalva, R. Burgmann, A. E. Morey, J. E. Johnson, C. H. Nelson, J. Gutierrez-Pastor, A. Ericsson, E. Karabanov, J. D. Chaytor, et al. (2008)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98, 861-889
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The 1906 Earthquake on California's North Coast.
L. Dengler (2008)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98, 918-930
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Probable low-angle thrust earthquakes on the Juan de Fuca-North America plate boundary.
A. M. Trehu, J. Braunmiller, and J. L. Nabelek (2008)
Geology 36, 127-130
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Impact of Local Morphology on Sedimentation in a Submarine Canyon, ROV Studies in Eel Canyon, Northern California, U.S.A..
T. M. Drexler, C. A. Nittrouer, and B. L. Mullenbach (2006)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 76, 839-853
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Low Potential for Large Intraslab Earthquakes in the Central Cascadia Subduction Zone.
I. G. Wong (2005)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 95, 1880-1902
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for possible precursor events of megathrust earthquakes on the west coast of North America.
A. D. Hawkes, D. B. Scott, J. H. Lipps, and R. Combellick (2005)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 117, 996-1008
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Empirical Ground-Motion Relations for Subduction-Zone Earthquakes and Their Application to Cascadia and Other Regions.
(2003)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 93, 1703-1729
Effect of the northward-migrating Mendocino triple junction on the Eel River forearc basin, California: Stratigraphic development.
S. P.S. Gulick, A. S. Meltzer, and S. H. Clarke Jr. (2002)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 114, 178-191
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Seismicity of California's North Coast.
(2000)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 90, 797-812
Seismic activity of the San Francisco Bay region.
W. H. Bakun (1999)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89, 764-784
   Abstract »    PDF »
An intensity survey of households affected by the Northridge, California, earthquake of 17 January 1994.
L. A. Dengler and J. W. Dewey (1998)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88, 441-462
   Abstract »    PDF »
The effects of upper plate deformation on records of prehistoric Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes.
L. C. McNeill, C. Goldfinger, R. S. Yeats, and L. D. Kulm (1998)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 146, 321-342
   Abstract »    PDF »
The 1978 Brooks Peninsula, Vancouver Island earthquakes.
C. Spindler, G. C. Rogers, and J. F. Cassidy (1997)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 87, 1011-1023
   Abstract »    PDF »
Source parameters of aftershocks of the 1991 Costa Rica and 1992 Cape Mendocino, California, earthquakes from inversion of local amplitude ratios and broadband waveforms.
S. Y. Schwartz (1995)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 85, 1560-1575
   Abstract »    PDF »
Large accelerations and tectonic setting of the May 1993 Shumagin Islands earthquake sequence.
G. A. Abers, J. Beavan, S. Horton, S. Jaume, and E. Triep (1995)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 85, 1730-1738
   Abstract »    PDF »
Inversion of regional surface-wave spectra for source parameters of aftershocks from the 1992 Petrolia earthquake sequence.
M. A. Tinker and S. L. Beck (1995)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 85, 705-715
   Abstract »    PDF »
Peak accelerations from the 1992 Landers and big bear, California, earthquakes.
C. H. Cramer and R. B. Darragh (1994)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 84, 589-595
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)