Three-dimensional elastic earthquake modelling based on integrated seismological and InSAR data:: the Mw=7.2 Nuweiba earthquake, gulf of Elat/Aqaba 1995 November

The Nuweiba earthquake (1995 November 22; M-w = 7.2), the largest seismic event along the Dead Sea Transform( DST) in at least 160 yr, ruptured 45-50 km along the Aragonese segment of the left-stepping strike-slip fault system occupying the gulf of Elat/Aqaba (southern segment of the DST). The rupture initiated in a partly normal, low-slip first subevent near the southern end of the fault and propagated unilaterally north-northeastward as a high-slip, nearly pure sinistral second subevent, which was responsible for over 90 per cent of the total seismic moment. The source mechanism and slip distribution, derived from inversion of teleseismic broad-band waveforms, are used to construct a 3-D elastic model of the earthquake based on the boundary elements method, resulting in the full 3-D displacement and stress fields induced by the earthquake. In the absence of sufficient Global Positioning System data, the only other constraints on the geometry and slip distribution of the rupture are provided by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) measurements spanning the coseismic and early post-seismic period. We calculate simulated interferograms by transforming the calculated surface displacement field into the satellite coordinate system and comparing them with the observed interferograms. The model parameters are then iteratively modified until a best-fitting model is obtained, providing a refined set of static source parameters for the mainshock. This model is then used to calculate the static Coulomb stress changes induced by the mainshock on the step-over faults, suggesting that the major (Mw 5) aftershocks in the first eight post-seismic months were triggered by small changes ( 1 bar) in the left-lateral Coulomb stress, with effective friction coefficient not higher than 0.2. Aftershock distribution and mechanisms indicate that the available Coulomb stress dropped below the frictional strength of the fault but was not complete.