Physical properties controlling earthquake ruptures: Two study cases along the South American subduction zone

Leon-Rios, Sergio, Rietbrock, Andreas, Bie, Lidong, Beck, Susan, Charvis, Philippe, Comte, Diana, Galve, Audrey, Meltzer, Anne, Roecker, Steven, Ruiz, Mario and Segovia, Monica (2025) Physical properties controlling earthquake ruptures: Two study cases along the South American subduction zone. Geophysical Research Letters, 52 (14). ISSN 0094-8276

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Abstract

Seismic velocity models were compared with coseismic slip distributions for two megathrust earthquakes that occurred along the South American subduction zone. By analyzing the distribution of Vp/Vs ratios, we found that seismic anomalies with values higher or lower than the average coincide with the boundaries of the earthquake ruptures. In contrast, the regions characterized by intermediate Vp/Vs values may represent a mechanical ?sweet spot? where the physical properties create favorable conditions for sustained rupture propagation. Our methodology, which combines the Vp/Vs distribution and the analysis of coseismic slip models, could reveal the rupture-prone regions and the likely magnitude of potential earthquakes, providing relevant information for seismic hazard assessment.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability Statement: For the Ecuador deployment, raw data, velocity models, earthquake catalog and software used are located at IRIS website http://www.iris.edu/dms/nodes/dmc/ using the network code 8G (Meltzer & Beck, 2016), G (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris & Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre de Strasbourg, 1982) and EC (Instituto Geofisico). Data from the emergency deployment XE is available through Regnier et al. (2016). The Earthquakes catalog is available through Agurto-Detzel et al. (2019). Model data are available in the KIT open repository (Leon-Rios & Rietbrock, 2020). Temporary X5-Taltal network details in the FDSN database (Rietbrock et al., 2020). Raw data will be available on the FDSN/EIDA server hosted by GFZ-Potsdam (Rietbrock, 2024). Initial and final models as well as hypocenter catalog, arrival times, and processing algorithms user guides are available in ZENODO (Leon-Rios, 2023).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	tomography,seismology,subduction zone,seismic slip,geophysics,earth and planetary sciences(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1908
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Geosciences
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	04 Aug 2025 14:30
Last Modified:	10 Aug 2025 06:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100047
DOI:	10.1029/2025GL114615

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