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Article Dans Une Revue Geophysical Research Letters Année : 2020

Fault‐Zone Damage Promotes Pulse‐Like Rupture and Back‐Propagating Fronts via Quasi‐Static Effects

B. Idini
J.-P. Ampuero

Résumé

Damage zones are ubiquitous components of faults that may affect earthquake rupture. Simulations show that pulse-like rupture can be induced by the dynamic effect of waves reflected by sharp fault zone boundaries. Here we show that pulses can appear in a highly damaged fault zone even in the absence of reflected waves. We use quasi-static scaling arguments and quasi-dynamic earthquake cycle simulations to show that a crack turns into a pulse after the rupture has grown larger than the fault zone thickness. Accompanying the pulses, we find complex rupture patterns involving back-propagating fronts that emerge from the primary rupture front. Our model provides a mechanism for back-propagating fronts recently observed during large earthquakes. Moreover, we find that slow-slip simulations in a highly compliant fault zone also produce back-propagating fronts, suggesting a new mechanism for the rapid tremor reversals observed in Cascadia and Japan.
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hal-03578343 , version 1 (16-06-2022)

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B. Idini, J.-P. Ampuero. Fault‐Zone Damage Promotes Pulse‐Like Rupture and Back‐Propagating Fronts via Quasi‐Static Effects. Geophysical Research Letters, 2020, 47 (23), pp.e2020GL090736. ⟨10.1029/2020GL090736⟩. ⟨hal-03578343⟩
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