EGU24-19397, updated on 11 Mar 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19397
EGU General Assembly 2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

The pulse-like dynamics of large earthquakes illuminated by a minimal elastodynamic model

Fabian Barras1, Einat Aharonov2, and François Renard1,3
Fabian Barras et al.
  • 1The Njord Centre, Departments of Geosciences and Physics, box 1048, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
  • 2Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
  • 3ISTerre, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble INP, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, IRD, Univ. Gustave Eiffel, 38000, Grenoble, France

Observations suggest that large earthquakes often propagate as self-healing slip pulses but the mechanical reason of this ubiquity remains debated. Pulse-like ruptures differ from the classical crack-like dynamics by the fact that the slipping portion of the fault is limited to the immediate vicinity of the propagating tip. In this work, we first propose a minimal model describing the dynamics of large earthquakes. In its simplest form, the model contains only two free parameters: a dimensionless stress parameter characterizing the initial state of stress along the fault and a ratio of elastic moduli. The model illuminates how self-healing slip pulses can be produced by the paucity of elastic strain energy that arises once the rupture dynamics interplays with the finite geometry of fault zones—even in the absence of additional mechanisms such as rate-dependent friction.

Next, we discuss the example of faults surrounded by a damage zone whose reduction in elastic wave velocity restricts the flow of strain energy to the rupture tip and promotes pulse-like rupture. Using the proposed model, we demonstrate how the contrast in wave velocities and the initial stress level in the fault zone mediate the propagation mode of the earthquake.

How to cite: Barras, F., Aharonov, E., and Renard, F.: The pulse-like dynamics of large earthquakes illuminated by a minimal elastodynamic model, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19397, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19397, 2024.