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Finite Fault Inversion of Mw4.1 and its Implications for Induced Earthquake Ruptures.
  • Colin Pennington,
  • Takahiko Uchide,
  • Xiaowei Chen
Colin Pennington
University of Oklahoma

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Takahiko Uchide
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
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Xiaowei Chen
University of Oklahoma
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Abstract

To better quantify how injection, prior seismicity and fault properties control rupture growth and propagation of induced earthquakes, we perform finite-fault slip inversion on a $M_{w}$ 4.1 earthquake that occurred in April 2015, which is the largest earthquake of an induced sequence near Guthrie, Oklahoma. The slip inversion reveals a complex rupture with multiple slip patches that are anti-correlated to the cumulative slip distributions of prior seismicity. This indicates that the $M_{w}$ 4.1 earthquake likely ruptured relatively strong asperities, while earlier seismicity driven by pore pressure occurred in weaker area. Compared to similar magnitude events in swarms from other regions, intraplate earthquakes in Oklahoma have higher number of well separated slip patches, indicating a difference in fault characteristics between regions. These observations suggest that both pore pressure perturbations, earthquake interactions, and fault characteristics control rupture propagation in moderate size earthquakes in Oklahoma, with the latter likely the dominant factor.