This session covers the broad field of earthquake source processes, and includes the topics of observing the surface deformation caused by earthquakes, imaging the rupture kinematics and simulating earthquake dynamics using numerical methods, to develop a deeper understanding of earthquake source physics. We also invite presentation that link novel field observations and laboratory experiments to earthquake dynamics, and studies on earthquake scaling properties.

Earthquake sources are imaged using seismic data and surface deformation measurements (e.g. GPS, InSAR, paleoseismology) to estimate rupture properties on faults and fault systems. Each data set and each method has its strength and limitations in the context of the source-inversion problem, but the uncertainties are often not well quantified and the robustness of the source models not well known.
The session invites contributions that address the source-inversion problem and provide new methods, innovative applications, and thought-provoking new ideas.

Recent advances in numerical algorithms and increasing computational power enable unforeseen precision and details in physics-based earthquake simulation but also pose challenges in terms of fully exploiting modern supercomputing infrastructure, realistic parameterization of simulation ingredients, and the analysis of large synthetic datasets. Contributions are welcome that make use of modern computing paradigms and infrastructure to tackle large-scale forward simulation of earthquake process, but also inverse modeling to retrieve the rupture process with proper uncertainty quantification.

Earthquake source imaging, numerical modeling of rupture dynamics, and source-scaling relations help to understand earthquake source processes. Furthermore, new numerical modeling approaches for multi-scale earthquake physics, including earthquake-cycle simulations, may include fault-zone evolution and even target seismic hazard assessment. The question that these lines of research are targeting are profound and of first-order socio-economic relevance:

Which first-order physical processes control, at a given space-time scale, the macroscopic evolution of dynamic rupture and its seismic radiation? Is the physics of fault rupture the same for large and small earthquakes? How can modern earthquake hazard assessment profit from a deeper understanding of rupture dynamics? Which source processes need to be considered to better understand, and then model, tsunami generation, triggering phenomena, induced seismicity and earthquake cycles? How do earthquake processes in high and low strain-rate regions differ, and how do these differences impact earthquake hazard?

Within this framework our session also provides a forum to discuss case studies of field observation, kinematic and dynamic source modeling of recent significant earthquakes.