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Originally published in Science Express on 22 November 2007
Science 11 January 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5860, p. 173
DOI: 10.1126/science.1149164
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Brevia

Widespread Triggering of Nonvolcanic Tremor in California

Joan Gomberg,1* Justin L. Rubinstein,2 Zhigang Peng,3 Kenneth C. Creager,2 John E. Vidale,2 Paul Bodin2

We identified seven locations on or near the transform plate boundary in California where nonvolcanic tremor was triggered by the 2002 Denali earthquake. This result implies that the conditions essential for nonvolcanic tremor exist in a range of tectonic environments. Models explaining tremor typically require conditions endemic to subduction zones, that is, high temperatures and fluid pressures, because previously tremor was nearly exclusively documented in subduction zones. The absence of tremor in geothermal areas is inconsistent with such models. Additionally, we found no correlation between creeping or locked faults and tremor, contrary to predictions of frictional models of tremor.

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Box 351310, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
2 Department of Earth and Space Science, University of Washington, Box 351310, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
3 School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332–0340, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gomberg{at}usgs.gov

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