Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T16:53:34.289Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Field observations of surface ruptures accompanying a tsunami and supershear earthquake along a plate boundary strike-slip fault

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2022

Chuanyou Li*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Jinrui Liu
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Jun Ma
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Gang Su
Affiliation:
China Earthquake Disaster Prevention Center, Beijing, China
Jian Lan
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Xinnan Li
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Zhikun Ren
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Hongliu Ran
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
*
Author for correspondence: Chuanyou Li, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Strike-slip earthquakes near major subduction zones have received less attention than thrust or reverse earthquakes in subduction zone areas. The occurrence of the 2018 Palu Mw 7.5 earthquake in eastern Indonesia provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the characteristics of one of these events. The Palu earthquake occurred on the left-lateral, north–south-striking Palu–Koro fault, which is the main plate boundary structure accommodating the convergence between blocks in a triple junction area. It excited a significant tsunami, which unusually is associated with strike-slip earthquakes, and also ruptured at a supershear speed, which is mostly observed on strike-slip faults in continents. Based on our fieldwork, we speculate that the normal slip component of the offshore rupture section in Palu bay on the middle segment probably favours tsunami genesis. Our field investigation has revealed evidence of a simple geometry as well as slip partitioning of dip-slip and strike-slip motion on two subparallel strands on the main segment, both of which may have contributed to the supershear of the rupture propagation. Instead of only a transtensive behaviour of the middle segment, our results also illustrate the transpressional property of the northern and southern rupture segments, which shows more complex behaviour than that of a common continental strike-slip fault.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ammon, CJ, Ji, C, Thio, HK, Robinson, D, Ni, SD, Hjorleifsdottir, V, Kanamori, H, Lay, T, Das, S, Helmberger, D, Ichinose, G, Polet, J and Wald, D (2005) Rupture process of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. Science 308, 1133–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aránguiz, R, Esteban, M, Takagi, H, Mikami, T, Takabatake, T, Gómez, M, González, J, Shibayama, T, Okuwaki, R, Yagi, Y, Shimizu, K, Achiari, H, Stolle, J, Robertson, I, Ohira, K, Nakamura, R, Nishida, Y, Krautwald, C, Goseberg, N and Nistor, I (2020) The 2018 Sulawesi tsunami in Palu city as a result of several landslides and coseismic tsunamis. Coastal Engineering Journal 62, 445–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, P, Pollitz, F, Nagarajan, B and Bürgmann, R (2007) Coseismic slip distributions of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman and 28 March 2005 Nias earthquakes from GPS static offsets. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 97, S86S102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bao, H, Ampuero, JP, Meng, L, Fielding, EJ, Liang, C, Milliner, CW, Feng, T and Huang, H (2019) Early and persistent supershear rupture of the 2018 magnitude 7.5 Palu earthquake. Nature Geoscience 12, 200–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellier, O, Sebrier, M, Beaudouin, T, Villeneuve, M, Braucher, R, Bourlès, D, Siame, L, Putranto, E and Pratomo, I (2001) High slip rate for a low seismicity along the Palu-Koro active fault in central Sulawesi (Indonesia). Terra Nova 13, 463–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellier, O, Sébrier, M, Seward, D, Beaudouin, T, Villeneuve, M and Putranto, E (2006) Fission track and fault kinematics analyses for new insight into the Late Cenozoic tectonic regime changes in West-Central Sulawesi (Indonesia). Tectonophysics 413, 201–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouchon, M, Karabulut, H, Bouin, MP, Schmittbuhl, J, Vallée, M, Archuleta, R, Das, S, Renard, F and Marsan, D (2010) Faulting characteristics of supershear earthquakes. Tectonophysics 493, 244–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouchon, M and Vallée, M (2003) Observation of long supershear rupture during the magnitude 8.1 Kunlunshan earthquake. Science 301, 824–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowman, D, King, G and Tapponnier, P (2003) Slip partinioning by elastoplastic propagation of oblique slip at depth. Science 300, 1121–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruhat, L, Fang, Z and Dunham, EM (2016) Rupture complexity and the supershear transition on rough faults. Journal of Geophysical Research 121, 210–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carvajal, M, Araya-Cornejo, C, Sepúlveda, I, Melnick, D and Haase, JS (2018) Nearly instantaneous tsunamis following the Mw 7.5 2018 Palu earthquake. Geophysical Research Letters 46, 5117–26. doi: 10.1029/2019gl082578.Google Scholar
Fang, J, Xu, CJ, Wen, YM, Wang, S, Xu, GY, Zhao, YW and Yi, L (2019) The 2018 Mw 7.5 Palu earthquake: a supershear rupture event constrained by InSAR and Broadband regional seismograms. Remote Sensing 11, 1330. doi: 10.3390/rs11111330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitch, TJ (1972) Plate convergence, transcurrent faults and internal deformation adjacent to southeast Asia and the western Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research 77, 4432–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederik, MC, Adhitama, R, Hananto, ND, Sahabuddin, S, Irfan, M, Moefti, O, Putra, DB and Riyalda, BF (2019) First results of a bathymetric survey of Palu Bay, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia following the Tsunamigenic Earthquake of 28 September 2018. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 3277–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W (1979) Tectonics of the Indonesian Region. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heidarzadeh, M, Muhari, A and Wijanarto, AB (2019) Insights on the source of the 28 September 2018 Sulawesi tsunami, Indonesia based on spectral analyses and numerical simulations. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 2543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Y, Ampuero, JP and Helmberger, DV (2016) The potential for supershear earthquakes in damaged fault zones: theory and observations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 433, 109–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamelot, A, Gailler, A, Heinrich, P, Vallage, A and Champenois, J (2019) Tsunami simulations of the Sulawesi Mw 7.5 event: comparison of seismic sources issued from a tsunami warning context versus post-event finite source. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 3351–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, G, Klinger, Y, Bowman, D and Tapponnier, P (2005) Slip partitioned surface breaks for the 2001 Kokoxili earthquake, China (Mw 7.8). Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 95, 731–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klinger, Y, Xu, X, Tapponnier, P, Van der Woerd, J, Lasserre, C and King, G (2005) High-resolution satellite imagery mapping of the surface rupture and slip distribution of the Mw 7.8, 14 November 2001 Kokoxili earthquake, Kunlun fault, northern Tibet, China. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 95, 1970–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konca, AO, Leprince, S, Avouac, JP and Helmberger, DV (2010) Rupture process of 2010, Mw= 7.1 Düzce earthquake from joint analysis of SPOT, GPS, InSAR, strong-motion and teleseismic data: a super-shear rupture with variable rupture velocity. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 100, 267–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreemer, C, Holt, WE, Goes, S and Govers, R (2000) Active deformation in eastern Indonesia and the Philippines from GPS and seismicity data. Journal of Geophysical Research 105, 663–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Q, Zhao, B, Tan, K and Xu, W (2020) Two main rupture stages during the 2018 magnitude 7.5 Sulawesi earthquake. Geophysical Journal International 221, 1873–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, P, Higuera, P, Husrin, S, Prasetya, G, Prihantono, J and Diastomo, H (2020) Coastal landslides in Palu Bay during 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami. Landslides 17, 2085–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikami, T, Shibayama, T, Esteban, M, Takabatake, T, Nakamura, R, Nishida, Y, Achiari, H, Rusli Marzuki, AG, Marzuki, MFH, Stolle, J, Krautwald, C, Robertson, I, Aránguiz, R and Ohira, K (2019) Field survey of the 2018 Sulawesi tsunami: inundation and run-up heights and damage to coastal communities. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 3291–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omira, R, Dogan, GG, Hidayat, R, Husrin, S, Prasetya, GS, Annunziato, A, Proietti, C, Probst, P, Paparo, MA, Wronna, M, Zaytsev, A, Pronin, PI, Giniyatullin, AA, Putra, PS, Hartanto, D, Ginanjar, G, Kongko, W, Pelinovsky, EN and Yalciner, AC (2019) The September 28th, 2018, tsunami in Palu-Sulawesi, Indonesia: a post-event field survey. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 1379–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrin, C, Manighetti, I, Ampuero, JP, Cappa, F and Gaudemer, Y (2016) Location of largest earthquake slip and fast rupture controlled by along-strike change in fault structural maturity due to fault growth. Journal of Geophysical Research 121, 3666–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prasetya, GS, De Lange, WP and Healy, TR (2001) The Makassar strait tsunamigenic region, Indonesia. Natural Hazards 24, 295307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rangin, C, Le Pichon, X, Mazzotti, S, Pubellier, M, Chamot-Rooke, N, Aurelio, M, Walpersdorf, A and Quebral, R (1999) Plate convergence measured by GPS across the Sundaland/Philippine Sea plate deformed boundary: the Philippines and eastern Indonesia. Geophysical Journal International 139, 296316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silver, EA, McCaffrey, R and Smith, RB (1983) Collision, rotation and the initiation of subduction in the evolution of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Geophysical Research 88, 9407–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Socquet, A, Hollingsworth, J, Pathier, E and Bouchon, M (2019) Evidence of supershear during the 2018 magnitude 7.5 Palu earthquake from space geodesy. Nature Geoscience 12, 192–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Socquet, A, Simons, W, Vigny, C, McCaffrey, R, Subarya, C, Sarsito, D, Ambrosius, B and Spakman, W (2006) Microblock rotations and fault coupling in SE Asia triple junction (Sulawesi, Indonesia) from GPS and earthquake slip vector data. Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth 111, B08409. doi: 10.1029/2005JB003963.Google Scholar
Stevens, C, McCaffrey, R, Bock, Y, Genrich, J, Endang, , Subarya, C, Puntodewo, SSO, Fauzi, and Vigny, C (1999) Rapid rotations about a vertical axis in a collisional setting revealed by the Palu fault, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Geophysical Research Letters 26, 2677–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subarya, C, Chlieh, M, Prawirodirdjo, L, Avouac, JP, Bock, Y, Sieh, K, Meltzner, AJ, Natawidjaja, DH and McCaffrey, R (2006) Plate boundary deformation associated with the great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. Nature 440, 4651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Surmont, J, Laj, C, Kisse, C, Rangin, C, Bellon, H and Priadi, B (1994) New paleomagnetic constraints on the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the North Arm of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 121, 629–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takagi, H, Pratama, M, Kurobe, S, Esteban, M, Aránguiz, R and Ke, B (2019) Analysis of generation and arrival time of landslide tsunami to Palu city due to the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake. Landslides 16, 983–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titov, V, Rabinovich, AB, Mofjeld, HO, Thomson, RE and Gonzalez, FI (2005) The global reach of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra tsunami. Science 309, 2045–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ulrich, T, Vater, S, Madden, EH, Behrens, J, Van Dinther, Y, Van Zelst, I, Fielding, E, Liang, C and Gabriel, A (2019) Coupled, physics-based modeling reveals earthquake displacements are critical to the 2018 Palu, Sulawesi Tsunami. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 4069–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
US Geological Survey (USGS) (2018) M7.5-72 km N of Palu, Indonesia (usgs.gov). https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000h3p4/moment-tensor (Accessed 1 February 2022).Google Scholar
Vallée, M, Landès, M, Shapiro, NM and Klinger, Y (2008) The 14 November 2001 Kokoxili (Tibet) earthquake: high frequency seismic radiation originating from the transition between sub-Rayleigh and supershear rupture velocity regimes. Journal of Geophysical Research 113, B07305. doi: 10.1029/2007JB005520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vigny, C, Perfettini, H, Walpersdorf, A, Lemoine, A, Simons, W, van Loon, D, Ambrosius, B, Stevens, C, Mc Caffrey, R, Morgan, P, Bock, Y, Subarya, C, Manurung, P, Kahar, J, Abidin, H and Abu, S (2002) Migration of seismicity and earthquake interactions monitored by GPS in SE Asia triple junction: Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Geophysical Research 107, 2231. doi: 10.1029/2001JB000377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vigny, C, Simons, WJF, Abu, S, Bamphenyu, R, Satirapod, C, Choosakul, N, Subarya, C, Socquet, A, Omar, K, Abidin, HZ and Ambrosius, BAC (2005) Insight into the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake from GPS measurements in southeast Asia. Nature 436, 201–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walpersdorf, A, Rangin, C and Vigny, C (1998a) GPS compared to long-term geologic motion of the north arm of Sulawesi. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 159, 4755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walpersdorf, A, Vigny, C, Subarya, C and Manurung, P (1998b) Monitoring of the Palu–Koro Fault (Sulawesi) by GPS. Geophysical Research Letters 25, 2313–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watkinson, IM and Hall, R (2017) Fault systems of the eastern Indonesian triple junction: evaluation of Quaternary activity and implications for seismic hazards. In Geohazards in Indonesia: Earth Science for Disaster Risk Reduction (eds PR Cummins and I Mellano), pp. 71120. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, D, Ren, Z, Liu, J, Chen, J, Guo, P, Yin, G, Ran, H, Li, C and Yang, X (2020) Coseismic surface rupture during the 2018 Mw 7.5 Palu earthquake, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. GSA Bulletin 133, 1157–66. doi: 10.1130/B35597.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yolsal-Çevikbilen, S and Taymaz, T (2019) Source characteristics of the 28 September 2018 Mw 7.5 Palu-Sulawesi, Indonesia (SE Asia) earthquake based on inversion of teleseismic bodywaves. Pure and Applied Geophysics 176, 4111–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Y, Chen, YT and Feng, W (2019) Complex multiple-segment ruptures of the 28 September 2018, Sulawesi, Indonesia, earthquake. Science Bulletin 64, 650–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Li et al. supplementary material

Li et al. supplementary material

Download Li et al. supplementary material(File)
File 3.7 MB