What stops earthquake ruptures?: Paleoseismic evidence from the Mw = 7.3 Landers earthquake of southern California

Charles M. Rubin, Scott C. Lindvall, & Thomas K. Rockwell

In Preparation 2002, SCEC Contribution #658

The Camp Rock fault has failed about one thousand year ago during a substantially larger earthquake than documented after the 1992 Mw = 7.3 Landers earthquake of southern California. Compared to the most recent earthquake on the Camp Rock fault, the vertical displacement was about 4 times greater during this penultimate event. We interpret the gentle arrest of rupture during the 1992 earthquake with a relaxation barrier, where low values of initial stresses from a prior earthquake correspond to the region of rupture termination. Thus, tectonic loading on the fault did not raise the initial stresses to failure during the 1992 earthquake.

Citation
Rubin, C. M., Lindvall, S. C., & Rockwell, T. K. (2002). What stops earthquake ruptures?: Paleoseismic evidence from the Mw = 7.3 Landers earthquake of southern California. Science, (in preparation).