Tectonic faults display a large range of slip behaviors, ranging from fast slip (earthquakes) to episodic or continuous aseismic slow slip. Episodic aseismic slip events (typically called 'slow slip events') are now widely observed in active regions and play an important role in stress redistribution in the Earth's crust. The Longitudinal Valley Fault is the most active fault in Taiwan, hosting large to destructive earthquakes. However, very little is known about the presence and the role of slow slip events on the fault deformation. We document a 13‐day long slow slip event with a magnitude of 5.45, which represe'nts the largest event detected on the fault to date. We demonstrate that the slow event was likely encouraged by stress accumulation due to the 2003 Chengkung earthquake. Monitoring and characterizing the sources of aseismic slip is fundamental to identify areas with high seismic hazard on the fault and to shed some light on the interactions between seismic and aseismic processes.
Full Article:
Canitano, A., M. Godano and M. Y. Thomas, (2021), Inherited State of Stress as a Key Factor Controlling Slip and Slip Mode: Inference From the Study of a Slow Slip Event in the Longitudinal Valley, Taiwan, Geophysical Research Letters 48(3)
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090278
