Internal structure of the San Jacinto fault zone at Jackass Flat from data recorded by a dense linear array

Abstract

The internal structure of the Clark fault in the trifurcation area of the San Jacinto fault zone is imaged using seismograms recorded by a dense linear array (Jackass Flat, JF) crossing the surface trace of the fault and an adjacent array (TR) to the SW. Delay times between phase arrivals associated with ∼3500 local earthquakes and nine teleseismic events are used to estimate velocity variations within the arrays. The teleseismic P waves travel faster beneath the TR than the JF array, in contrast to larger scale tomographic results. Statistical analysis of local P-wave delay times indicates that the entire JF array, with an aperture of ∼400 m, is inside a low-velocity damage zone. This low-velocity zone is bounded on the NE side by a shallow bimaterial interface generating fault zone head waves, and it contains an inner zone of more intense damage generating fault zone trapped waves. The P-wave velocity contrast across the local bounding bimaterial interface is 10–15 per cent. The trapping structure is associated with a width of ∼200 m, S-wave velocity reduction of ∼35 per cent with respect to the surrounding rock, Q-value of ∼20 and depth of ∼3.5 km. The imaging results suggest that the main seismogenic fault is near the SW end of the JF array, in agreement with a prominent geomorphologic feature. The existence of intense local damage on the crustal block with faster larger scale velocity at depth is consistent with common propagation of earthquake ruptures in the area to the NW.