Three-dimensional dynamic rupture simulations across interacting faults: The M w 7.0, 2010, Haiti earthquake
Résumé
The mechanisms controlling rupture propagation between fault segments during a large earthquake are key to the hazard posed by fault systems. Rupture initiation on a smaller fault sometimes transfers to a larger fault, resulting in a significant event (e.g., 2002 M7.9 Denali USA and 2010 M7.1 Darfield New Zealand earthquakes). In other cases rupture is constrained to the initial fault and does not transfer to nearby faults, resulting in events of more moderate magnitude. This was the case of the 1989 M6.9 Loma Prieta and 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquakes which initiated on reverse faults abutting against a major strike-slip plate boundary fault but did not propagate onto it. Here we investigate the rupture dynamics of the Haiti earthquake, seeking to understand why rupture propagated across two segments of the Léogâne fault but did not propagate to the adjacent Enriquillo Plantain Garden Fault, the major 200 km long plate boundary fault cutting through southern Haiti. We use a finite element model to simulate propagation of rupture on the Léogâne fault, varying friction and background stress to determine the parameter set that best explains the observed earthquake sequence, in particular, the ground displacement. The two slip patches inferred from finite fault inversions are explained by the successive rupture of two fault segments oriented favorably with respect to the rupture propagation, while the geometry of the Enriquillo fault did not allow shear stress to reach failure.
Domaines
Sciences de la Terre
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