Study of postseismic deformation due to the 2015 M 7.2 Sarez (Pamir)
earthquake using Sentinel-1 InSAR observations
Abstract
The Mw 7.2 Sarez strike-slip earthquake occurred on Dec 7, 2015 in the
Pamir region at the North-West of the Tibetan Plateau. We used
Sentinel-1A/B Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data to
investigate postseismic deformation due to the Mw 7.2 Sarez earthquake.
We analyzed 2.5 years of post-earthquake acquisitions from the ascending
track 100 and the descending track 005. Despite challenging surface
conditions (that include rugged topography and snow cover), we were able
to derive time series of line of sight (LOS) displacements within 150 km
from the earthquake rupture. We used stacks of interferograms covering
snow-free months, as well as persistent scatterers to detect possible
deformation transients. Preliminary results indicate no postseismic
relaxation signals above the noise level (10-20 mm/yr for average LOS
velocities). We do observe coseismic deformation due to two
M>6 earthquakes that occurred ~100 km to
the North-East from the epicenter of the Sarez earthquake. We use
constraints on the maximum amplitude of surface displacements provided
by the InSAR data to provide bounds on the effective rheologic structure
of the lower crust and upper mantle beneath Pamir.