Viscoelastic Deformation for a Clustered Earthquake Cycle

Brendan J. Meade, & Bradford H. Hager

Published May 2004, SCEC Contribution #769

The clustering of earthquakes in time on the same fault affects the rate and pattern of interseismic deformation. We develop a simple analytic viscoelastic model of the surface velocity field through a clustered earthquake cycle by superposing the velocities of individual earthquake cycles of constant period but varying phase. Velocity profiles prior to and after an earthquake show a wider range of behavior than they do for earthquake cycles with constant repeat times. These new types of behavior provide possible explanations for discrepancies between geologic estimates of long-term fault slip rates and slip rate estimates from geodetic data.

Citation
Meade, B. J., & Hager, B. H. (2004). Viscoelastic Deformation for a Clustered Earthquake Cycle. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L10610. doi: 10.1029/2004GL019643.