Evolution of the crustal total shear strain in a reference to 2010-2023 Aegean Sea earthquakes
1 RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
2 Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
3 Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Abstract
The animation shows the behavior of the total shear deformation in connection with the seismic process in the Aegean region from the end of 2011 to 2023. The deformation anomaly began to develop in the southern part of the region, where a strong M6 earthquake occurred about six months before the start of observations. The center of the anomaly almost coincides with the island of Santorini. The deformation develops, accompanied by moderate seismicity. We believe that it was caused by the above-mentioned M6 earthquake. Thus, the process of regional rupture formation was launched. Expanding, the anomaly covers the very epicenter of this strong event. This area is close to the boundary of the African global tectonic plate and the Aegean plate. The deformation develops mainly in the northern direction, but also with a branch to the northeast. In both directions, the foci of future strong events M>6 are expecting the arrival of these waves. In 2017, two strong earthquakes occur one after another, approximately in the direction of the boundary of the Aegean and Anatolian plates, with an interval of one month. It is interesting that between them there is a “quiet” waiting zone for the strongest Samos earthquake M7. Note that two foci of anomalous deformation are developing intensively and are waiting for a mutual merger due to the strongest seismic event of 2020. The occurrence of this earthquake completes the formation of a common shear zone in the direction of the boundary of the Aegean and Anatolian plates. At the same time, the shear anomalies almost leave the area of their primary occurrence near the island of Santorini. In subsequent years, the development of this single anomaly is actively accompanied by moderate and weak seismicity. The observed seismic-deformational process demonstrates the genetic relationship of all seismic events in the region for a given period of time. We interpret it as the propagation of a total shear deformation wave, alternately (cascading) exciting strong and other seismic events. A trigger effect of the deformation wave on a mature seismic source is observed.
Coordinate time series of GNSS station with an interval of one day were obtained from the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory website [Blewit et al., 2018].
Database creation date: 2024; Publication date: December 2024
Contributor:
Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Institution: Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Publisher: Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GC RAS), Moscow, Russia (http://www.gcras.ru/eng/)
Data format: .m4v (M4V File Format)
doi: 10.2205/esdb-aegean-shear
Citation: Kaftan V. I., Melnikov A. Yu., Dokukin P. A. (2024) Evolution of the crustal total shear strain in a reference to 2010-2023 Aegean Sea earthquakes, GCRAS, Moscow, https://doi.org/10.2205/esdb-aegean-shear
References:
- Blewitt, G., Hammond, W. C., Kreemer C. Harnessing the GPS data explosion for interdisciplinary science. Eos, 99 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO104623.
License: 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
URL for downloading: http://esdb.wdcb.ru/doi/2024/esdb-aegean-quake-2010-2023/Evolution_of_the_crustal_total_shear_strain_in_a_reference_to_2010-2023_Aegean_Sea_earthquakes.m4v
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