Letter abstract
Nature Geoscience 1, 253 - 257 (2008)
Published online: 30 March 2008 | doi:10.1038/ngeo159
Subject Categories: Seismology | Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics
Rupture across arc segment and plate boundaries in the 1 April 2007 Solomons earthquake
Frederick W. Taylor1, Richard W. Briggs2,5, Cliff Frohlich1, Abel Brown3, Matt Hornbach1, Alison K. Papabatu4, Aron J. Meltzner2 & Douglas Billy4
The largest earthquakes are generated in subduction zones, and the earthquake rupture typically extends for hundreds of kilometres along a single subducting plate. These ruptures often begin or end at structural boundaries on the overriding plate that are associated with the subduction of prominent bathymetric features of the downgoing plate1, 2. Here, we determine uplift and subsidence along shorelines for the 1 April 2007 moment magnitude MW 8.1 earthquake in the western Solomon Islands, using coral microatolls which provide precise measurements of vertical motions in locations where instrumental data are unavailable. We demonstrate that the 2007 earthquake ruptured across the subducting Simbo ridge transform and thus broke through a triple junction where the Australian and Woodlark plates subduct beneath the overriding Pacific plate. Previously, no known major megathrust rupture has involved two subducting plates. We conclude that this event illustrates the uncertainties of predicting the segmentation of subduction zone rupture on the basis of structural discontinuities.
- Institute for Geophysics, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Texas 78758-4445, USA
- Tectonics Observatory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
- School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
- Dept. of Mines, Energy, and Water Resources, PO Box G37, Honiara, Solomon Islands
- Present address: US Geological Survey, MS 966, Box 25046, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
Correspondence to: Frederick W. Taylor1 e-mail: fred@ig.utexas.edu
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