An analysis of Haiti earthquake (January 12., 2010) from its aftershock sequence using land-based and off-shore temporary seismic stations
Abstract
The Mw=7.0 earthquake that occurred in the vicinity of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on january 12th, 2010 caused significant damage to the infrastructures of the country and resulted in more than 200,00 casualties. The Republic of Haiti is part of the island of Hispaniola and is located at the boundary between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. The 20 mm/yr relative motion between these two plates results in long-term stress accumulation along this boundary and can explain the seismic activity of that region. First reports on the Haiti earthquake attributed that event to the Enriquillo Plaintain Garden fault Zone (EPGFZ), a major fault system whose location and geometry was compatible with earthquake scenarios inferred from previous studies. However, subsequent analyses have shown that the actual fault involved in that earthquake was probably a buried one, with expression at the surface. Detailed information about the source location and geometry of earthquakes can be obtained from the analysis of their aftershock distribution. In this work, we present location results for a set of 50 aftershocks recorded by a temporary array of 19 offshore and 5 onshore seismic stations deployed in the epicentral region a few days after January 12th earthquake.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.S53B2292D
- Keywords:
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- 7212 SEISMOLOGY / Earthquake ground motions and engineering seismology;
- 7215 SEISMOLOGY / Earthquake source observations