Determining Source Model and Aftershocks of 2006 Yogyakarta Earthquake, Indonesia using Coulomb Stress Change

Abstract

On 26 May 2006 at 22:53:59 UTC, an earthquake with moment magnitude of 6.4 occurred in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The source of the event is still debatable. Some believe the event was caused by the reactivation of the Opak Fault which has a left-lateral type movement. Previous studies indicated there are two possibilities to explain the mechanism of the Yogyakarta earthquake. First is based on the focal mechanism from NIED (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster) Japan which indicated that the event occurred in an oblique reverse slip. This model states that the complex Opak fault is a flower structure (strike-slip) type. Second is based on NEIC (National Earthquake Information Center) US which indicated that the event was caused by a pure strike-slip fault (active Opak fault). The May 26th earthquake triggered many aftershock events around the old Opak fault. The majority of aftershock events on 3-6 June 2006 were located around 5 km east of Opak fault. It has a trendline of N45°E and lies parallel with the Opak fault. We use Coulomb Stress change to determine which type of source model fit better the aftershocks pattern. The target fault for Coulomb Stress analysis is a left lateral pure strike slip with an orientation of N45°E/90°SE.