Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Seismic constraints and coulomb stress changes of a blind thrust fault system, 2: Northridge, California

June 19, 2006

We review seismicity, surface faulting, and Coulomb stress changes associated with the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. All of the observed surface faulting is shallow, extending meters to tens of meters below the surface. Relocated aftershocks reveal no seismicity shallower than 2 km depth. Although many of the aftershocks lie along the thrust fault and its up-dip extension, there are also a significant number of aftershocks in the core of the gentle anticline above the thrust, and elsewhere on the up-thrown block. These aftershocks may be associated with secondary ramp thrusts or flexural slip faults at a depth of 2-4 km. The geological structures typically associated with a blind thrust fault, such as anticlinal uplift and an associated syncline, are obscured and complicated by surface thrust faults associated with the San Fernando fault that overly the Northridge structures. Thus the relationship of the geological structure and topography to the underlying thrust fault is much more complex for Northridge than it is for the 1983 Coalinga, California, earthquake. We show from a Coulomb stress analysis that secondary surface faulting, diffuse aftershocks, and triggered sequences of moderate-sized mainshocks, are expected features of moderate-sized blind thrust earthquakes.

Publication Year 2006
Title Seismic constraints and coulomb stress changes of a blind thrust fault system, 2: Northridge, California
DOI 10.3133/ofr20061158
Authors Ross S. Stein, Jian Lin
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 2006-1158
Index ID ofr20061158
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Earthquake Hazards Program; Earthquake Science Center