Slow earthquake scaling reconsidered as a boundary between distinct modes of rupture propagation.

ABSTRACT: The scaling law for slow earthquakes, which is a linear relationship between seismic moment and duration, was proposed 15 y ago and initiated a debate on the difference in physical processes governing slow vs. fast (ordinary) earthquakes. Based on new observations across a wide period range, we show that linear scaling of slow earthquakes remains valid, but as a well-defined upper bound on moment rate of ~10¹³ Nm/s. The large gap in moment-rate between the scaling of slow and fast earthquakes remains unfilled. Slow earthquakes occur near the detectability threshold, such that we are unable to detect deformation events with lower moment rates. Observed trends within slow earthquake categories support the idea that this unobservable field is populated with events of lower moment r

SUBMITTER: Ide S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10410734 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature