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Triggering of large earthquakes by magma-chamber inflation, Izu Peninsula (Japan)

December 11, 1982

A close spatial and temporal association between three aseismic uplift episodes and subsequent large (M ≈ 7) earthquakes on the Izu Peninsula, Japan, suggests a causal relation. Quaternary geology, as well as studies by other workers, indicates a volcanic origin for the observed uplift, and we use a simple inflation model constrained by leveling data to compute the expected increments in normal and shear stress across faults that ruptured in the earthquakes. Using a Mohr-Coulomb criterion, we find that in two cases out of three, stress changes induced by inflation are in the correct sense to trigger failure. Although changes are no more than a few bars, they represent the equivalent of several decades to a century of secular stress buildup.

Publication Year 1982
Title Triggering of large earthquakes by magma-chamber inflation, Izu Peninsula (Japan)
DOI 10.1130/0091-7613(1982)10<637:TOLEBM>2.0.CO;2
Authors Wayne R. Thatcher, James C. Savage
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Geology
Index ID 70207172
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Earthquake Science Center
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