RAPID: Capture of ephemeral fault slip data from the North Anatolian slow slip event Dec2019 and triggered slip data from the East Anatolian Mw=6.8 earthquake

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This RAPID project responds to two recents events on the Anatolian fault in Turkey, a magnitude 5.4 slow earthquake and a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in January of 2020. These events are important to understand because they cause signifcant loss of life and damage to buildings and infrastructure. In addition, the fault system is very similar to those in California. Improving our understanding of this earthquake and slow slip event by collecting data from instruments that measure deformation immediately before and after these events is valuable for researchers studying this fault and many others. The lead investigator will be collaborating with local researchers in Turkey as part of this data collection effort. The US community will gain access to the data quickly through the UNAVCO data archive. This project supports rapid response to two events on the Anatolian fault system that happened in quick succession. The lead investigator will download data from 5 non-telemetered extensometers along the fault, and map surface expressions of the rupture. These data will be valuable in understanding slow slip and seismic fault motion in relation to each other, understanding event nucleation and fault slip. The slow slip earthquake persisted for a month causing the North Anatolian fault to slip significantly. The Mw 6.8 earthquake ruptured an 80km segment of the East Anatolian fault. The broader impacts of the work include collaboration with researchers at the Kandilli Observatory in Instanbul, improved understanding of earthquake hazards and rapid data availability to the US research community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.