Quantifying the Role of 3D Fault Geometry Complexities on Slow and Fast Earthquakes
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , , , , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866915804130312192 |
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| author | Cheng, J. Bhat, H. S. Almakari, M. Lecampion, B. Dubernet, P. |
| author_facet | Cheng, J. Bhat, H. S. Almakari, M. Lecampion, B. Dubernet, P. |
| contents | Traditional models of slow slip events (SSEs) often oversimplify fault geometry, yet imaging studies show that real subduction faults are segmented and complex. We investigate how fault interactions influence slip behavior using 3D quasi-dynamic earthquake sequence simulations of two parallel faults with uniform rate-weakening friction, accelerated with hierarchical matrices. Our results identify four slip regimes-periodic earthquakes, coexisting SSEs and earthquakes, only SSEs, and complex sequences-while a single planar fault under the same conditions produces only earthquakes. We quantify fault interaction using the maximum Coulomb stress induced on a target fault by unit, spatially uniform stress drop on a neighboring fault. Because the source stress drop is normalized, the metric depends only on geometry and is independent of friction and nucleation length, and it can be extended to arbitrary fault configurations. The occurrence of SSEs is confined to an intermediate range of interaction strength. We also reproduce the observed moment-duration scaling and show that it depends on event detection thresholds. These results demonstrate that complex fault geometry can naturally generate both slow and fast earthquakes through evolving traction heterogeneities. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_16403 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Quantifying the Role of 3D Fault Geometry Complexities on Slow and Fast Earthquakes Cheng, J. Bhat, H. S. Almakari, M. Lecampion, B. Dubernet, P. Geophysics Traditional models of slow slip events (SSEs) often oversimplify fault geometry, yet imaging studies show that real subduction faults are segmented and complex. We investigate how fault interactions influence slip behavior using 3D quasi-dynamic earthquake sequence simulations of two parallel faults with uniform rate-weakening friction, accelerated with hierarchical matrices. Our results identify four slip regimes-periodic earthquakes, coexisting SSEs and earthquakes, only SSEs, and complex sequences-while a single planar fault under the same conditions produces only earthquakes. We quantify fault interaction using the maximum Coulomb stress induced on a target fault by unit, spatially uniform stress drop on a neighboring fault. Because the source stress drop is normalized, the metric depends only on geometry and is independent of friction and nucleation length, and it can be extended to arbitrary fault configurations. The occurrence of SSEs is confined to an intermediate range of interaction strength. We also reproduce the observed moment-duration scaling and show that it depends on event detection thresholds. These results demonstrate that complex fault geometry can naturally generate both slow and fast earthquakes through evolving traction heterogeneities. |
| title | Quantifying the Role of 3D Fault Geometry Complexities on Slow and Fast Earthquakes |
| topic | Geophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16403 |