The 2000 M w 6.8 Uglegorsk earthquake and regional plate boundary deformation of Sakhalin from geodetic data

Abstract

Interseismic GPS velocities in Sakhalin indicate that the island moves to the west at 3–4 mm/yr with respect to the Eurasian plate, which is about half of the relative Eurasia ‐ North America plate convergence rate. GPS measurements across the central Sakhalin fault system provide evidence of compressive and strike‐slip strain accumulation at a rate ≤3 mm/yr. Coseismic vertical displacements produced by the August 4, 2000 M w 6.8 Uglegorsk earthquake in Sakhalin were analyzed by constrained nonlinear inversion which provided evidence for a reverse faulting mechanism on an east‐dipping fault plane.