Resistivity structure in the western part of the fault rupture zone associated with the 1999 Izmit earthquake and its seismogenic implication (original) (raw)
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Magnetotelluric imaging of the fault rupture area of the 1999 İzmit (Turkey) earthquake
Physics of The Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2005
Wide-band (320– 0.001 Hz) and long period (0.01–0.0001 Hz) magnetotelluric (MT) data were acquired along two profiles crossing the western part of the North Anatolian fault zone (NAFZ), Turkey, which consists of two main fault branches. The first profile (İzmit profile) crosses the epicentral area of the 17 August 1999 İzmit earthquake. In fact, the MT measurements along this profile started just a few weeks before the occurrence of the mainshock and four instruments happened to be in operation in the vicinity of the fault when the earthquake took place. The second profile (Adapazarı profile) is located about 30 km east of the first profile. Two-dimensional modeling shows the following results. First, the hypocenters of mainshock and aftershocks are located on the highly resistive side near the edge of a conductive zone. Second, the long-period MT data show a low resistivity zone extending down to 50 km between the two fault branches. Such a deep conductive zone is interpreted as representing partial melting resulted from the past complex tectonics in this region, and it is related to the non-seismic after-slip in the layer below the seismogenic zone characterized by the highly resistive layer.
2000
On August 17, 1999, a destructive earthquake occurred in the western part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey. The earthquake source region has been designated as a seismic gap and an M7-class earthquake has been supposed to occur someday in the future so as to fill this seismic gap. So far we have undertaken various kinds of observations in this area and we could obtain some valuable data before, during and after the mainshock. Here we report some of the preliminary results of our recent studies, which include field work started in late July this year and continued during and after the earthquake occurrence just in the earthquake source region and its vicinity, in addition to seismic observations carried out for several years before the mainshock. Much emphasis is put on magnetotelluric field data acquired during the mainshock; in fact, large variations caused by seismic waves were recorded. Such variations could be interpreted in terms of electromagnetic induction in the conducting crust caused by the velocity field interacting with the static magnetic field of the Earth. In particular, the first motion of seismic wave could be identified in the records and used for precise determination of the hypocenter of the mainshock.
Rapid changes in the electrical state of the 1999 Izmit earthquake rupture zone
Nature Communications, 2013
Crustal fluids exist near fault zones, but their relation to the processes that generate earthquakes, including slow-slip events, is unclear. Fault-zone fluids are characterized by low electrical resistivity. Here we investigate the time-dependent crustal resistivity in the rupture area of the 1999 M w 7.6 Izmit earthquake using electromagnetic data acquired at four sites before and after the earthquake. Most estimates of apparent resistivity in the frequency range of 0.05 to 2.0 Hz show abrupt co-seismic decreases on the order of tens of per cent. Data acquired at two sites 1 month after the Izmit earthquake indicate that the resistivity had already returned to pre-seismic levels. We interpret such changes as the pressure-induced transition between isolated and interconnected fluids. Some data show pre-seismic changes and this suggests that the transition is associated with foreshocks and slow-slip events before large earthquakes.
Advances in Geosciences, 2008
The most recent devastating earthquakes that occurred along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in northwestern Turkey were the 1999 Izmit (Mw=7.4) and Düzce (Mw=7.1) events. In this study we present a catalog of Izmit aftershock hypocenters that was deduced from a network covering the entire 140 km long rupture of the mainshock. 7348 events with a location accuracy better than 5 km are analysed. Aftershocks were observed along the entire ruptured segment along a 20 km wide band of activity. Events are clustered in distinct regions and dominantly occur at 5 to 15 km depth. The eastern termination of the Izmit rupture is characterized by a sharp and steeply dipping boundary exactly where the Düzce mainshock initiated 87 days after the Izmit event. Relocation of the events using double-difference technology results in 4696 high-resolution hypocenters that allow resolving the internal structure of the seismically active areas with a resolution of 300 m (horizontal) and 400m (vertical). Below the Akyazi Plain, representing a small pull-apart structure at a triple junction of the NAFZ, we identify planes of activity that can be correlated with nodal planes of EW extensional normal faulting aftershocks. Along the easternmost Karadere-Düzce segment we identify the down-dip extension of the Karadere fault that hosted about 1 m of right-lateral coseismic slip. At the easternmost rupture we correlate a cloud-type distribution of seismic activity with the largest aftershocks in this area, a subevent of the Izmit mainshock and the Düzce mainshock that all have an almost identical focal mechanism. This part of the NAFZ is interpreted as a classical example of a seismic barrier along the fault.
Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica, 2013
A magnetotelluric survey was performed at the Çatalca Region, west of Istanbul, Turkey with the aim of investigating geoelectrical properties of the upper crust near the Çatalca Fault and its vicinity. Broadband magnetotelluric data were collected at nine sites along a single southwest-northeast profile to image the electrical resistivity structure from surface to the 5 km depth. The dimensionality of the data was examined through tensor decompositions and highly two-dimensional behavior of the data is shown. Following the tensor decompositions, two-dimensional inversions were carried out where E-polarization, B-polarization and tipper data were utilized to construct electrical resistivity models. The results of the inversions suggest: a) the Çatalca Fault extends from surface to 5 km depth as a conductive zone dipping to southwest; b) the thickness of the sedimentary cover is increasing from SW to NE to 700 m with low resistivity values between 1100 Ωm; c) the crystalline basement below the sedimentary unit is very resistive and varies between 2000100000 Ωm; d) a SW-dipping resistivity boundary in the northeastern part of our profile may represent the West Black Sea Fault.
Geophysical Journal International, 2006
We investigate aftershock focal mechanisms of the M w = 7.4 Izmit earthquake of 1999 August 17, on the western North Anatolian fault zone (NAFZ). Spatial clustering and the orientation of 446 fault plane solutions are analysed. The Izmit mainshock occurred as a right-lateral slip on an EW-trending near-vertical fault plane. Aftershock clusters define four individual fault segments. Focal mechanisms surrounding the epicentres of the Izmit and subsequent Düzce mainshock (M w = 7.1, 1999 November 12) indicate predominantly strike-slip but also normal faulting. Aftershocks in the area between the Izmit and Düzce segments are mainly related to EW-oriented normal faulting delineating a small pull-apart structure. Beneath the easternmost Sea of Marmara, alignments of aftershocks suggest branching of the NAFZ into three or more active segments that differ significantly in terms of their focal mechanism characteristic. The distribution of aftershock focal mechanisms corresponds to fault segmentation of the NAFZ in the Izmit-Düzce region produced by coseismic slip. Areas with large amounts of coseismic slip show aftershocks that are predominantly strike-slip, but low-slip barriers show mostly normal faulting aftershocks.
Analysis of Izmit aftershocks 25 days before the November 12th 1999 Düzce earthquake, Turkey
Tectonophysics, 2009
We investigate spatial clustering of 2414 aftershocks along the Izmit M w = 7.4 August 17, 1999 earthquake rupture zone. 25 days prior to the Düzce earthquake M w = 7.2 (November 12, 1999), we analyze two spatial clusters, namely Sakarya (SC) and Karadere-Düzce (KDC). We determine the earthquake frequency-magnitude distribution (b-value) for both clusters. We find two high b-value zones in SC and one high b-value zone in KDC which are in agreement with large coseismic surface displacements along the Izmit rupture. The b-values are significantly lower at the eastern end of the Izmit rupture where the Düzce mainshock occurred. These low b-values at depth are correlated with low postseismic slip rate and positive Coloumb stress change along KDC. Since low b-values are hypothesized with high stress levels, we propose that at the depth of the Düzce hypocenter (12.5 km), earthquakes are triggered at higher stresses compared to shallower crustal earthquake. The decrease in b-value from the Karadere segment towards the Düzce Basin supports this low b-value high stress hypothesis at the eastern end of the Izmit rupture. Consequently, we detect three asperity regions which are correlated with high b-value zones along the Izmit rupture. According to aftershock distribution the half of the Düzce fault segment was active before the 12 November 1999 Düzce mainshock. This part is correlated with low b-values which mean high stress concentration in the Düzce Basin. This high density aftershock activity presumably helped to trigger the Düzce event (M w = 7.2) after the Izmit M w 7.4 mainshock.