Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland
Publisher's version (útgefin grein) The May 25, 1987, Vatnafjöll earthquake occurred on the Mid‐Atlantic plate boundary, at a junction between a transform (the South Iceland Seismic Zone) and a spreading segment (the Eastern Volcanic Zone). The South Iceland Seismic Zone has had the most destru...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
1991
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1036 https://doi.org/10.1029/90JB00831 |
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ftopinvisindi:oai:opinvisindi.is:20.500.11815/1036 2023-05-15T16:46:07+02:00 Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland Bjarnason, Ingi Þorleifur Einarsson, Páll Raunvísindastofnun (HÍ) Science Institute (UI) Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland 1991-03-10 4313-4324 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1036 https://doi.org/10.1029/90JB00831 en eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth;96(B3) Bjarnason, I. T., & Einarsson, P. (1991). Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 96(B3), 4313-4324. doi:doi:10.1029/90JB00831 0148-0227 2169-9356 (eISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1036 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth doi:10.1029/90JB00831 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Jarðskjálftar Misgengi (jarðfræði) Jarðskjálftafræði Suðurland info:eu-repo/semantics/article 1991 ftopinvisindi https://doi.org/20.500.11815/1036 https://doi.org/10.1029/90JB00831 2022-11-18T06:51:43Z Publisher's version (útgefin grein) The May 25, 1987, Vatnafjöll earthquake occurred on the Mid‐Atlantic plate boundary, at a junction between a transform (the South Iceland Seismic Zone) and a spreading segment (the Eastern Volcanic Zone). The South Iceland Seismic Zone has had the most destructive earthquakes in the history of Iceland with average intervals of 80–100 years and estimated maximum magnitudes around 7. The 1987 Vatnafjöll earthquake was the largest earthquake (mb = 5.8; MS = 5.8; Mw = 5.9) in south Iceland since the 1912 magnitude 7 earthquake and is the first event sufficiently large to allow a meaningful study of source process in this geologically interesting region. Foreshocks and aftershocks of the Vatnafjöll earthquake were located with relatively good accuracy. They define an elongated N‐S epicentral area, 12 km long and 4 km wide with hypocentral depths mostly between 6 and 13 km. We determined centroid source parameters of the Vatnafjöll earthquake by inverting long‐period teleseismic P and SH waves. The centroid source mechanism and foreshock and aftershock distribution indicate N‐S right‐lateral strike‐slip faulting on a near‐vertical plane. The rupture initiated near the base of the crust and propagated upward along an approximately 10‐km‐long fault but did not reach the surface. The centroid depth is well constrained and is between 5 and 8 km depth at the 95% confidence level. The seismic moment is 9.1×1024dyn cm. The source has relatively short duration of 3 s, which may indicate higher stress drop than global average of earthquakes of this size. The South Iceland Seismic Zone is a 70‐km‐long E‐W striking transform zone between two overlapping rift zones, the Eastern and Western Volcanic Zones. It is characterized by “bookshelf” type of tectonics; that is, there is no surface faulting in the direction of the transform. Instead, N‐S right‐lateral strike‐slip faults are distributed along and perpendicular to the transform zone. The Vatnafjöll earthquake has characteristics of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Opin vísindi (Iceland) Suðurland ENVELOPE(-19.000,-19.000,64.000,64.000) Vatnafjöll ENVELOPE(-19.600,-19.600,63.933,63.933) Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 96 B3 4313 4324 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Opin vísindi (Iceland) |
op_collection_id |
ftopinvisindi |
language |
English |
topic |
Jarðskjálftar Misgengi (jarðfræði) Jarðskjálftafræði Suðurland |
spellingShingle |
Jarðskjálftar Misgengi (jarðfræði) Jarðskjálftafræði Suðurland Bjarnason, Ingi Þorleifur Einarsson, Páll Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland |
topic_facet |
Jarðskjálftar Misgengi (jarðfræði) Jarðskjálftafræði Suðurland |
description |
Publisher's version (útgefin grein) The May 25, 1987, Vatnafjöll earthquake occurred on the Mid‐Atlantic plate boundary, at a junction between a transform (the South Iceland Seismic Zone) and a spreading segment (the Eastern Volcanic Zone). The South Iceland Seismic Zone has had the most destructive earthquakes in the history of Iceland with average intervals of 80–100 years and estimated maximum magnitudes around 7. The 1987 Vatnafjöll earthquake was the largest earthquake (mb = 5.8; MS = 5.8; Mw = 5.9) in south Iceland since the 1912 magnitude 7 earthquake and is the first event sufficiently large to allow a meaningful study of source process in this geologically interesting region. Foreshocks and aftershocks of the Vatnafjöll earthquake were located with relatively good accuracy. They define an elongated N‐S epicentral area, 12 km long and 4 km wide with hypocentral depths mostly between 6 and 13 km. We determined centroid source parameters of the Vatnafjöll earthquake by inverting long‐period teleseismic P and SH waves. The centroid source mechanism and foreshock and aftershock distribution indicate N‐S right‐lateral strike‐slip faulting on a near‐vertical plane. The rupture initiated near the base of the crust and propagated upward along an approximately 10‐km‐long fault but did not reach the surface. The centroid depth is well constrained and is between 5 and 8 km depth at the 95% confidence level. The seismic moment is 9.1×1024dyn cm. The source has relatively short duration of 3 s, which may indicate higher stress drop than global average of earthquakes of this size. The South Iceland Seismic Zone is a 70‐km‐long E‐W striking transform zone between two overlapping rift zones, the Eastern and Western Volcanic Zones. It is characterized by “bookshelf” type of tectonics; that is, there is no surface faulting in the direction of the transform. Instead, N‐S right‐lateral strike‐slip faults are distributed along and perpendicular to the transform zone. The Vatnafjöll earthquake has characteristics of ... |
author2 |
Raunvísindastofnun (HÍ) Science Institute (UI) Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bjarnason, Ingi Þorleifur Einarsson, Páll |
author_facet |
Bjarnason, Ingi Þorleifur Einarsson, Páll |
author_sort |
Bjarnason, Ingi Þorleifur |
title |
Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland |
title_short |
Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland |
title_full |
Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland |
title_sort |
source mechanism of the 1987 vatnafjöll earthquake in south iceland |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
1991 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1036 https://doi.org/10.1029/90JB00831 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-19.000,-19.000,64.000,64.000) ENVELOPE(-19.600,-19.600,63.933,63.933) |
geographic |
Suðurland Vatnafjöll |
geographic_facet |
Suðurland Vatnafjöll |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth;96(B3) Bjarnason, I. T., & Einarsson, P. (1991). Source mechanism of the 1987 Vatnafjöll Earthquake in south Iceland. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 96(B3), 4313-4324. doi:doi:10.1029/90JB00831 0148-0227 2169-9356 (eISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1036 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth doi:10.1029/90JB00831 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11815/1036 https://doi.org/10.1029/90JB00831 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |
container_volume |
96 |
container_issue |
B3 |
container_start_page |
4313 |
op_container_end_page |
4324 |
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1766036247470407680 |