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Rupture processes of the 1987–1988 Gulf of Alaska Earthquake Sequence

Hwang, Lorraine J. and Kanamori, Hiroo (1992) Rupture processes of the 1987–1988 Gulf of Alaska Earthquake Sequence. Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, 97 (B13). pp. 19881-19908. ISSN 2169-9313. doi:10.1029/92JB01817. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141028-163948215

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Abstract

Three large earthquakes occurred in the Gulf of Alaska during 1987–1988: one on November 17, 1987 (M_w = 7.2), the second one on November 30, 1987 (M_w = 7.8), and the third one on March 6, 1988 (Mw = 7.7). These major intraplate, strike-slip oceanic events occurred along conjugate trends in a region of no previous seismicity. Body wave modeling places their centroid depths in the upper mantle. The depth of the first two events is approximately 20 km and of the third is 15 km. As compared to other large events, the body wave models for the two largest earthquakes have short rupture lengths, 110 km and 40 km, respectively, and short duration times, 36 and 20 s, respectively, for their magnitude. The latter of the two events has a rupture length much shorter than that inferred from aftershock seismicity. The short rupture lengths and source durations may reflect differences between the strength of oceanic and continental lithosphere and suggest that events in oceanic lithosphere have a higher moment release per unit area than similar continental events. Most of the moment release occurred near the epicenter and/or regions of apparent structural complexities where seismicity trends intersect.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/92JB01817DOIArticle
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/92JB01817/abstractPublisherArticle
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Kanamori, Hiroo0000-0001-8219-9428
Additional Information:Copyright 1992 by the American Geophysical Union. (Received June 7, 1991; revised July 20, 1992; accepted July 23, 1992.) Paper number 92JB01817. We thank J. Lahr and C. Stephens for sharing their first motion data and aftershock relocations with us. Many thanks to Jeanne Sauber as well as several anonymous reviewers for their time and diligence in catching many of the egregious prethesis and postthesis errors and their suggestions which tremendously improved the presentation of this paper. This work was supported by an NSF Graduate Fellowship and the U.S. Geological Survey under contract 14-08-0001-G1170. This is contribution 5031 of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology.
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
NSF Graduate Research FellowshipUNSPECIFIED
USGS14-08-0001-G1170
Other Numbering System:
Other Numbering System NameOther Numbering System ID
Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences5031
Issue or Number:B13
DOI:10.1029/92JB01817
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20141028-163948215
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141028-163948215
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:50970
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: George Porter
Deposited On:28 Oct 2014 23:46
Last Modified:10 Nov 2021 19:03

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