We note that characteristic earthquakes at all scales can exhibit synchronization such that nearby faults repeatedly fail together, but not simultaneously. Synchronization sometimes persisting over many cycles suggests a degree of predictability. Such regularity is remarkable considering that earthquakes are extraordinarily sensitive to the details of the nucleation. What distinguishes earthquakes prone to synchronization from the far more common irregular earthquake occurrence? Characteristic earthquake repeaters in the creeping section of the San Andreas Fault provide a data-rich testing ground to understand the phenomenon. Theory poses the basic, and testable, ingredients for synchronization: proximity, regularity, similarity in size, and the limited external perturbation. Provided that the clock advance is phase dependent, synchronization can be robust to irregularities in earthquake nucleation. Interaction between earthquakes can regularize the earthquake cycle. Measurable characteristics delineate a phase space of synchronization which can be populated using both observations of characteristic repeating earthquakes and numerical simulation.
Session: Predictability of Seismic and Aseismic Slip: From Basic Science to Operational Forecasts [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/16/2025
Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)
Presenting Author: Kelian
Student Presenter: No
Invited Presentation:
Poster Number: 41
Authors
Kelian Dascher-Cousineau
Presenting Author
Corresponding Author
kelian.dascher-cousineau@usu.edu
Utah State University
Roland Bürgmann
burgmann@berkeley.edu
University of California, Berkeley
Synchronization Among Characteristic Earthquakes
Session
Predictability of Seismic and Aseismic Slip: From Basic Science to Operational Forecasts