Geophysical Research Letters
Geophysical Research Letters
5 years ago

Relationship between earthquake b-values and crustal stresses in a young orogenic belt

Yih-Min Wu, Hsin-Hua Huang, Wei-An Chao, Ivan Koulakov, Ting-Chung Huang, Sean Kuanhsiang Chen
It has been reported that earthquake b-values decrease linearly with the differential stresses in the continental crust and subduction zones. Here, we report a regression-derived relation between earthquake b-values and crustal stresses using the Anderson fault parameter (Aϕ) in a young orogenic belt of Taiwan. This regression relation is well established by using a large and complete earthquake catalog for Taiwan. The dataset consists of b-values and Aϕ values derived from relocated earthquakes and focal mechanisms, respectively. Our results show that b-values decrease linearly with the Aϕ values at crustal depths with a high correlation coefficient of -0.9. Thus, b-values could be used as stress indicators for orogenic belts. However, the state of stress is relatively well correlated with the surface geological setting with respect to earthquake b-values in Taiwan. Temporal variations in the b-value could constitute one of the main reasons for the spatial heterogeneity of b-values. We therefore suggest that b-values could be highly sensitive to temporal stress variations.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/2017GL076694

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