Buried Rupture Earthquake

Short description: Earthquake which does not produce a visible offset in the ground along the fault

The Northridge earthquake was a buried rupture earthquake,^[1] which caused massive surface damage

In seismology, a buried rupture earthquake, or blind earthquake, is an earthquake which does not produce a visible offset in the ground along the fault (as opposed to a surface rupture earthquake, which does). When the fault in question is a thrust fault, the earthquake is known as a blind thrust earthquake.

The Cypress Street Viaduct's collapsed upper deck and failed support columns, from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which was a buried rupture earthquake,^[1]

Ground motion

Recorded ground motions of large surface-rupture earthquakes are weaker than the ground motions from buried rupture earthquakes.^[1]

Depth

The asperity for a buried rupture earthquakes is in area deeper than roughly 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). Examples are the Loma Prieta earthquake, Northridge earthquake, and the Noto Hanto earthquake.^[2]

Tsunamis

As compared to the seabed surface rupture case, uplifted water outside the fault plane in buried rupture earthquakes makes for large tsunami waves.^[3]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Observed differences in ground motions". IJR. https://aees.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/21-Somerville.pdf. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
↑ "Generation Mechanism of Surface and Buried Faults Considering the Effect of Plasticity in a Shallow Crust Structure". iitk.ac.in. http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/WCEE2012_1629.pdf. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
↑ Goda, Katsuichiro (October 2015). "Effects of Seabed Surface Rupture Versus Buried Rupture on Tsunami Wave Modeling: A Case Study for the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, Earthquake". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 105 (5): 2563–2571. doi:10.1785/0120150091. Bibcode: 2015BuSSA.105.2563G. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280385734. Retrieved 29 October 2018.