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Quantifying Seismic Hazards in the Walker Lane Through Assimilation of Spaceborne InSAR Observations

Over the past ten years, the border region of California and Nevada has experienced a number of significant earthquake sequences, including several prominent M5-M7 events. Earthquake hazard is severe near the metropolitan areas of Reno and Carson City, which are located within a complex tectonic setting known as the Walker Lane. In this region, earthquake hazard is comparable to sites along the San Andreas Fault in California but is not as well-studied through geodetic means. Here we present recent surface deformation observations covering the Walker Lane region derived from spaceborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data. The use of both datasets in tandem provides complementary perspectives on the complexity of Earth’s surface response after seismic events over time. We designed a InSAR processing strategy that accounts for region specific errors due to inaccuracies in the Digital Elevation Model (DEM); we then build time series where a wide range of slip behaviors (i.e., co-seismic, aseismic, and postseismic deformation) can be interpreted. Understanding the influence of slip behavior of this region will provide insight towards the space-time evolution of the strain field in the Walker Lane and its relation to seismic hazard and earthquake occurrence.

Session: From Earthquakes to Plate Boundaries: Insights Into Fault Behavior Spanning Seconds to Millennia

Type: Oral

Room: 209A

Date: 4/20/2023

Presentation Time: 05:00 PM (local time)

Presenting Author: Vivian G. Rosas

Student Presenter: Yes

Additional Authors