Preliminary results from GPS geodetic observations after the January 12, 2010, Mw 7.0 earthquake in Haiti
Abstract
We have been collecting Global Positioning System (GPS) data along the North American-Caribbean plate boundary to assess slip partitioning, block behavior, and elastic strain accumulation since 1986 when six stations were installed in the northeastern Caribbean. The network was expanded significantly each year from 1994 onward with the addition of Haiti in 2003. Several reoccupations have been completed in Haiti since that time, permitting characterization of the GPS-derived interseismic velocity field. The January 12, 2010 Haiti (Mw=7.0) earthquake traversed the GPS geodetic network and likely occurred on a segment of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, one of the major structures of the North American-Caribbean plate boundary, which likely last ruptured in 1751. Modeling of the interseismic GPS-derived velocity field in the northeastern Caribbean by Manaker et al. (2008) was consistent with full locking of this segment of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault and the potential of an earthquake with Mw=7.2 at any time should all strain be released during a single event. The Mw 7.0 Haiti earthquake, therefore, was not unexpected. To constrain co-seismic deformation and stress loading of adjacent fault segments, we collected data on the existing GPS geodetic network in Haiti in February 2010. Preliminary results indicate significant transpression associated with the recent events.
- Publication:
-
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010EGUGA..1215698C