Journal
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 391, Issue -, Pages 193-200Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2014.01.048
Keywords
Wenchuan earthquake; Lushan earthquake; groundwater level; liquefaction; static strain; permeability
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [40930637]
- Special Project of Seismological Community [2008419079]
- Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China [20100022110001]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [2652013088]
- China Scholarship Council
- US National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences [1344424] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Earth Sciences [1344424] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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On 20th April, 2013, a large earthquake (Lushan M-w 6.6) occurred in Sichuan, China, in the same fault zone as the devastating 2008 M-w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The two earthquakes have similar focal mechanisms and both caused large hydrological changes in the region. The similarity of focal mechanisms, fault zone geology and the abundance of hydrological responses provide a rare opportunity for testing proposed mechanisms for hydrological responses to earthquakes. Using data from wells installed in hard rocks, we find that both the magnitude and the sign of water level changes are inconsistent with those predicted by the coseismic strain hypothesis in the near-field and in the intermediate-field. Instead, permeability change may be the dominant mechanism for the coseismic changes in water level. We also find that the minimum seismic energy required to trigger liquefaction for the Wenchuan earthquake is only 1/20 of that for the Lushan earthquake, suggesting either that the occurrence of liquefaction is more sensitive to low seismic frequencies or that the Wenchuan earthquake changed the sensitivity of unconsolidated materials, and properties had not completely recovered during the 5-year interval between the two earthquakes. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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