Dynamic rupture experiments elucidate tensile crack development during propagating earthquake ruptures

We used optical experiments and high-speed photography to interpret the origins of tensile fractures that form during dynamic shear rupture in laboratory experiments. Sub-Rayleigh (slower than the Rayleigh wave speed, c(R)) shear ruptures in Homalite-100 produce damage zones consisting of an array of tensile cracks. These cracks nucleate and grow within cohesive zones behind the tips of shear ruptures that propagate dynamically along interfaces with frictional and cohesive strength, simulating a strong fault. The tensile cracks are produced only along one side of the interface where transient, fault-parallel, tensile stress perturbations are associated with the growing shear rupture tip. Results of this study represent an important potential bridge between geological observations of structures preserved along exhumed faults and theoretical models of earthquake propagation, potentially leading to diagnostic criteria for interpreting velocity, directivity, and static prestress states associated with past earthquakes on exhumed faults.