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Science 16 May 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5622, pp. 1113 - 1118
DOI: 10.1126/science.1082703
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Research Articles

The 2002 Denali Fault Earthquake, Alaska: A Large Magnitude, Slip-Partitioned Event

Donna Eberhart-Phillips,1 Peter J. Haeussler,1 Jeffrey T. Freymueller,2 Arthur D. Frankel,3 Charles M. Rubin,4 Patricia Craw,5 Natalia A. Ratchkovski,2 Greg Anderson,6 Gary A. Carver,7 Anthony J. Crone,3 Timothy E. Dawson,8 Hilary Fletcher,2 Roger Hansen,2 Edwin L. Harp,3 Ruth A. Harris,8 David P. Hill,8 Sigrún Hreinsdóttir,2 Randall W. Jibson,3 Lucile M. Jones,6 Robert Kayen,8 David K. Keefer,8 Christopher F. Larsen,2 Seth C. Moran,1 Stephen F. Personius,3 George Plafker,8 Brian Sherrod,9 Kerry Sieh,10 Nicholas Sitar,11 Wesley K. Wallace2

The MW (moment magnitude) 7.9 Denali fault earthquake on 3 November 2002 was associated with 340 kilometers of surface rupture and was the largest strike-slip earthquake in North America in almost 150 years. It illuminates earthquake mechanics and hazards of large strike-slip faults. It began with thrusting on the previously unrecognized Susitna Glacier fault, continued with right-slip on the Denali fault, then took a right step and continued with right-slip on the Totschunda fault. There is good correlation between geologically observed and geophysically inferred moment release. The earthquake produced unusually strong distal effects in the rupture propagation direction, including triggered seismicity.

1 U.S. Geological Survey, 4200 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
2 Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Post Office Box 757320, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320, USA.
3 U.S. Geological Survey, MS 966, Box 25046, Denver, CO 80225, USA.
4 Department of Geological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA.
5 Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 794 University Avenue, Suite 200, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA.
6 U.S. Geological Survey, 525 South Wilson Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106, USA.
7 Humboldt State University and Carver Geologic, Post Office Box 52, Kodiak, AK 99615, USA.
8 U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
9 U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey at Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195–1310, USA.
10 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences 100-23, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91106, USA.
11 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 441 Davis Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

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