Rupture model of the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake from teleseismic and regional waveforms

Abstract

We independently invert teleseismic P waveforms and regional crustal phases to examine the finite fault slip model for the 2011 Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake. Theoretical and empirical Green's functions are used for the teleseismic and regional models, respectively. Both solutions show two distinct sources each about 2 km across and separated by 2.5 km. The source at the hypocenter is more localized in the regional model leading to a higher peak slip of 130 cm and higher average stress drop of 250 bars compared with 86 cm and 150 bars for the same source in the teleseismic model. Both sources are centered at approximately 8 km depth in the regional model, largely below the aftershock distribution. In the teleseismic model, the sources extend updip to approximately 6 km depth, into the depth range of the aftershocks. The rupture velocity is not well resolved but appears to be near 2.7 km/s. Key Points Two main sources separated by 2 km and rupture velocity of 2.7 km/sec Teleseismic and regional data provide independent imaging of finite slip model The average stress drop is estimated by finite fault analysis to be 200 bars ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.