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Science 30 July 1999:
Vol. 285. no. 5428, pp. 718 - 721
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5428.718

Reports

Fault Slip Rates at Depth from Recurrence Intervals of Repeating Microearthquakes

Robert M. Nadeau, Thomas V. McEvilly

Unique attributes in sequences of recurring, similar microearthquakes at Parkfield, California, provide a means for inferring slip rate at depth throughout the active fault surface from the time intervals between sequence events. Application of the method using an 11-year microseismicity record revealed systematic spatial and temporal changes in the slip rate that were synchronous with earthquake activity and other independent measures of fault-zone slip. If this phenomenon is found to be generally common behavior in active faults, it forms the basis for a method to monitor the changing strain field throughout a seismogenic fault zone.

Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.


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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Asperity Model of an Earthquake: Dynamic Problem.
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Fractal Dimension and b-Value on Creeping and Locked Patches of the San Andreas Fault near Parkfield, California.
M. Wyss, C. G. Sammis, R. M. Nadeau, and S. Wiemer (2004)
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Periodic Pulsing of Characteristic Microearthquakes on the San Andreas Fault.
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Seismological Studies at Parkfield IX: Fault-Zone Imaging Using Guided Wave Attenuation.
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Using Repeating Earthquakes to Correct High-Precision Earthquake Catalogs for Time-Dependent Station Delays.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92, 1766-1782
Asperity Model of an Earthquake: Static Problem.
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A Simple Stick-Slip and Creep-Slip Model for Repeating Earthquakes and its Implication for Microearthquakes at Parkfield.
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Repeating Deep Earthquakes: Evidence for Fault Reactivation at Great Depth.
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Science 293, 1463-1466
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Repeating Earthquakes as Low-Stress-Drop Events at a Border between Locked and Creeping Fault Patches.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 91, 532-537
Quasi-Static Slip-Rate Shielding by Locked and Creeping Zones as an Explanation for Small Repeating Earthquakes at Parkfield.
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Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 91, 401-403
Earthquake Potential Along the Northern Hayward Fault, California.
R. Bürgmann, D. Schmidt, R. M. Nadeau, M. d'Alessio, E. Fielding, D. Manaker, T. V. McEvilly, and M. H. Murray (2000)
Science 289, 1178-1182
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Seismological Studies at Parkfield VIII: Modeling the Observed Travel-Time Changes.
(2000)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 90, 702-708



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