Calculation of coseismic displacement from lidar data in the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake

Abstract

The spatial distribution of the coseismic displacements that occurred along the Futagawa fault during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake of Mw 7.0 was estimated using airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) data. In this study, a pair of digital surface models (DSMs) obtained from the high-density lidar data before and after the mainshock on 16 April 2016 were used. A window matching search approach based on the correlation coefficient between the two DSMs was used to estimate the geodetic displacement in the near-field region. The results showed good agreements with the geodetic displacements calculated from strong-motion acceleration records and coincided with the fault line surveyed by the Geological Survey of Japan.