Measuring coseismic deformation on the northern segment of the Bam-Baravat escarpment associated with the 2003 Bam (Iran) earthquake, by correlation of very-high-resolution satellite imagery
Abstract
The role that the oblique reverse fault projecting to the surface at the Bam-Baravat escarpment (BBE) played in the slip accommodation of the 2003 (Mw 6.5) Bam earthquake is still unclear, regardless of many seismological and geodetic studies following this event. In this study, we correlate pre- and post-seismic very high spatial resolution panchromatic satellite images to map coseismic surface deformation along the northern segment of the BBE, a few hundred meters east of the urban area of Bam. Using a new approach based on principal component analysis (PCA) on offset measurements, we obtain 1.8 ± 0.6 cm east slip component and 2-6 ± 0.6 cm south slip component along the fault segment. Our results are consistent with ground observations over the study area and support the idea of the reactivation of the shallow part of this fault segment.