Preliminary results of investigation of “unidentified fault” associated with the Mw 7.3 Flores Sea earthquake

On December 14, 2021, the Mw 7.3 Flores Sea earthquake occurred approximately 100 km to the north of Flores Island, one of the most complex tectonic settings in Indonesia. The existence of the causative fault that generated this earthquake was not been previously known, therefore making further analysis crucial for assessing future seismic hazard in the region. In this study, we relocated the hypocenter of the mainshock and aftershocks using a double-difference method, determine focal mechanisms using waveform inversion, and then analyse stress changes to estimate the fault type and stress transfer caused by this earthquake. Our relocated hypocenters show that this earthquake sequence ruptured on at least three segments: the source mechanism of the mainshock exhibits dextral strike-slip motion (strike N288^oW and dip 78^o) that occurred on a West-East trending fault which we call the Kalaotoa Fault, while rupture of the other two segments located to the west and east of the mainshock (WSW-ESE directions, respectively) may have been triggered by this earthquake. The Coulomb stress change of the mainshock shows that areas to the northwest and southeast experienced an increase in stress, which is consistent with the observed aftershock pattern.