The transfer of slip between two en echelon strike-slip faults: a case study from the 1992 Landers earthquake, southern California

Abstract

Detailed mapping of the fresh surficial ruptures in the right step between the Homestead Valley Fault and the Emerson Fault, two right-lateral en echelon faults that broke in the 1992 Landers earthquake, indicates that the transfer of dextral slip between the faults is accommodated primarily by a series of obliquely striking right-lateral strike-slip cross faults. Repetition of 1992-like events should eventually lead to a merging of the Homestead Valley Fault with the Emerson. -from Authors