Seismological Studies for Tensile Faults

A shear slip fault, an equivalence of a double couple source, has often been assumed to be a kinematic source model in ground motion simulation. Estimation of seismic moment based on the shear slip model indicates the size of an earthquake. However, if the dislocation of the hanging wall relative to the footwall includes not only a shear slip tangent to the fault plane but also expansion and compression normal to the fault plane, the radiating seismic waves will feature differences from those out of the shear slip fault. Taking account of the effects resulting from expansion and compression to a fault plane, we can resolve the tension and pressure axes as well as the fault plane solution more exactly from ground motions than previously, and can evaluate how far a fault zone opens or contracts during a developing rupture. In addition to a tensile angle and Poisson's ratio for the medium, a tensile fault with five degrees of freedom has been extended from the shear slip fault with only three degrees of freedom, strike, dip, and slip.