Seismic velocity structure in the Hot Springs and Trifurcation areas of the San Jacinto fault zone, California, from double-difference tomography

Abstract

We present tomographic images of crustal velocity structures in the complex Hot Springs and Trifurcation areas of the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) based on double-difference inversions of earthquake arrival times. We invert for VP, VS and hypocentre location within 50 × 50 × 20 km3 volumes, using 266 969 P and 148 249 S arrival times.We obtain high-fidelity images of seismic velocities with resolution on the order of a few kilometres from 2 to 12 km depth and validate the results using checkerboard tests. Due to the relatively large proportion of S-wave arrival times, we also obtain stable maps of VP/VS ratios in both regions. The velocity of the Trifurcation Area as a whole is lower than adjacent unfaulted material. We interpret a 4-kmwide low velocity zone with high VP/VS ratio in the trifurcation itself as related to fault zone damage. We also observe clear velocity contrasts across the Buck Ridge, Clark and Coyote Creek segments of the SJFZ. The Anza segment of the SJFZ, to the NW of the trifurcation area, displays a strong (up to 27 per cent) contrast of VS from 2 to 9 km depth. In the Hot Springs area, a low velocity zone between the Claremont and Casa Loma Strands narrows with depth, with clear velocity contrasts observed across both segments. A roughly 10-km-wide zone of low velocity and low VP/VS ratio at the NW tip of the Hot Springs fault is indicative of either unconsolidated sediments associated with the San Jacinto basin, or fluid-filled cracks within a broad deformation zone. High VP/VS ratios along the Anza segment could indicate a preferred nucleation location for future large earthquakes, while the across-fault velocity contrast suggests a preferred northwest rupture propagation direction for such events. © The Authors 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.