Characteristics of the aftershock sequence of the Borah Peak, Idaho, earthquake determined from digital recordings of the events

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
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Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, deployed and maintained a network of twelve digital instruments over the 2 weeks following the 28 October 1983 Borah Peak, Idaho, earthquake. The network recorded 45 events with M ≧ 3.0, and 6 events with M ≦ 4.0. The epicenters are located in a narrow band which parallels the trace of the surface fauiting up to the Willow Creek summit; the depths of the events range from 5 to 16 km. In the south, the distribution of hypocenters delineate a plane which dips to the southwest at 50°; to the north, the hypocenters dip steeply to the east. Composite focal mechanisms for three groups of events show normal faulting mechanisms; the mechanism of the aftershocks in the north appear rotated in both strike and dip from the aftershocks in the south. The seismic moments of the aftershocks increase with increasing hypocentral depth below 12 km. The dynamic stress drops of the events do not show any systematic variation with depth, however. Most of the events with large stress drops are clustered in the northwest limb of the aftershock distribution; the average stress drop of the southern events is 31 ± 16 bars, while the average stress drop of the events in the northwest limb is 77 ± 52 bars. This clustering of events with large stress drops marks an apparent stress concentration, possibly associated with the arrest of the main shock rupture propagation by a fracture barrier at depth.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Characteristics of the aftershock sequence of the Borah Peak, Idaho, earthquake determined from digital recordings of the events
Series title Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
DOI 10.1785/BSSA0750051265
Volume 75
Issue 5
Year Published 1985
Language English
Publisher Seismological Society of America
Description 20 p.
First page 1265
Last page 1284
Country United States
State Idaho
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