SAR and optical data comparison for detecting co-seismic slip and induced phenomena during the 2018 Mw 7.5 Sulawesi earthquake

Abstract

We use both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Optical data to constrain the co-seismic ground deformation produced by the 2018 Mw 7.5 Sulawesi earthquake. We exploit data processing techniques mainly based on pixel cross-correlation approach, applied to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical images to estimate the North-South (NS) displacement component. This component is the most significant because of the NNW-SSE geometry of the fault responsible for the seismic event, i.e., the Palu-Koro fault, characterized by a strike-slip faulting mechanism. Our results show a good agreement between the different data allowing to clearly identify the surface rupture due to the fault slip. Moreover, we use SAR and optical intensity images to investigate several secondary phenomena generated by the seismic event such as tsunami, landslides, and coastal retreat. Finally, we discuss differences between SAR and optical outcomes showing strengths and disadvantages of each one according to the investigated phenomenon.