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Science 9 January 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5655, pp. 220 - 222
DOI: 10.1126/science.1090353
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Reports

Periodic Pulsing of Characteristic Microearthquakes on the San Andreas Fault

Robert M. Nadeau* and Thomas V. McEvilly

Deep fault slip information from characteristically repeating microearthquakes reveals previously unrecognized patterns of extensive, large-amplitude, long-duration, quasiperiodic repetition of aseismic events along much of a 175-kilometer segment of the central San Andreas fault.Pulsing occurs both in conjunction with and independent of transient slip from larger earthquakes.It extends to depths of ~10 to 11 kilometers but may be deeper, and it may be related to similar phenomena occurring in subduction zones.Over much of the study area, pulse onset periods also show a higher probability of larger earthquakes, which may provide useful information for earthquake forecasting.

Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, 211 McCone Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720–4760, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nadeau{at}seismo.berkeley.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Behavior of Repeating Earthquake Sequences in Central California and the Implications for Subsurface Fault Creep.
D. C. Templeton, R. M. Nadeau, and R. Burgmann (2008)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98, 52-65
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Seismic and aseismic weakening effects in transtension: field and microstructural observations on the mechanics and architecture of a large fault zone in SE Tibet.
M. A. Edwards and L. Ratschbacher (2005)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 245, 109-141
   Abstract »    PDF »


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