Fault behavior and characteristic earthquakes: examples from the Wasatch and San Andreas fault zones ( USA).

Abstract

Palaeoseismological data for the Wasatch and San Andreas fault zones have led to the formulation of the characteristic earthquake model, which postulates that individual faults and fault segments tend to generate essentially same size or characteristic earthquakes having a relatively narrow range of magnitudes near the maximum. Analysis of scarp-derived colluvium in trench exposures across the Wasatch fault provides estimates of the timing and displacement associated with individual surface faulting earthquakes. The characteristic earthquake appears to be a fundamental aspect of the behavior of the Wasatch and San Andreas faults and may apply to many other faults as well.-from Authors