How do the geometrical properties of seismicity relate to fault zone structure in California?

Rajani Shrestha, & Zachary E. Ross

Submitted September 7, 2025, SCEC Contribution #14611, 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #TBD

As a fault zone structure matures, seismicity becomes more localized around its principal slip surface. The decay of seismicity away from this surface provides an estimate of the effective damage zone width. This requires a detailed characterization of the fault geometry from surface to depth, which is a challenge. Can we make any meaningful inference about the fault zone structure using the geometrical distribution of seismicity but without any strong prior assumptions about the fault geometry? We seek to answer this question by using techniques from spatial point process theory to characterize the seismicity around strike-slip faults in California. We study how the geometrical properties of seismicity relate to the fault structural maturity and test some simple models of fault structure and seismicity against our observations.

Key Words
geometrical properties of seismicity, structural maturity, strike-slip faults

Citation
Shrestha, R., & Ross, Z. E. (2025, 09). How do the geometrical properties of seismicity relate to fault zone structure in California?. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Fault and Rupture Mechanics (FARM)