SCEC Award Number 22153 View PDF
Proposal Category Individual Proposal (Integration and Theory)
Proposal Title Dynamic Interactions Between the Southern San Andreas Fault and Normal Faults in the Brawley Seismic Zone.
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos University of Memphis
Other Participants
SCEC Priorities 4a, 1e, 2e SCEC Groups FARM, Seismology
Report Due Date 03/15/2023 Date Report Submitted 11/07/2024
Project Abstract
 We use physics-based dynamic rupture models to explore the dynamic interactions between the Southern San Andreas Fault (SSAF) and a neighboring normal fault (NF) beneath the Salton Sea in southern California. The NF, located adjacent to the SSAF endpoint at Bombay Beach, has experienced 11 to 15 displacement events over the past approximately 2 to 3k years. Notably, four of these displacement events may coincide with major historical earthquakes on the SSAF. Thus, we are specifically interested in understanding under what conditions the SSAF may induce slip on the NF. Our results indicate that certain types of SSAF rupture scenarios, especially those where rupture propagates from north to south, can trigger slip on the NF and produce vertical offsets comparable to those observed in the stratigraphic record. If the SSAF extends underneath the Salton Sea and into the Brawley seismic zone, earthquakes that originate to the south of the SSAF-NF intersection are less likely to cause slip on the NF, although this cannot be entirely ruled out. Additionally, some SSAF ruptures may not produce noticeable slip on the NF, making such events untraceable in the stratigraphic record. Our study adds to the ongoing discussions about seismic hazards in southern California, highlighting the interaction between the SSAF and NF.
Intellectual Merit The work contributes towards a better understanding of fault-to-fault dynamic interaction and in particular how the Southern San Andreas fault can induce slip on smaller adjacent structures like the normal faults under the Salton Sea.
Broader Impacts The dynamic rupture models developed in this project will be used at the CERI Visualization Lab as datasets for virtual reality educational activities. The CERI Vis Lab organizes several outreach events every year and participates in the CERI outreach program.
Exemplary Figure Figure 3 in this report is Figure 7 in:
Bazán Flores, L. I., Kyriakopoulos, C., Oglesby, D. D., Meltzner, A. J., Rockwell, T. K., Fletcher, J. M., & Brothers, D. (2024). Exploring the dynamic interactions between the Southern San Andreas Fault and a normal fault under the Salton Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 129, e2023JB028621. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JB028621
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