Subpatch roughness in earthquake rupture investigations

Abstract

Fault geometric complexities exhibit fractal characteristics over a wide range of spatial scales ( km) and strongly affect the rupture process at corresponding scales. Numerical rupture simulations provide a framework to quantitatively investigate the relationship between a fault's roughness and its seismic characteristics. Fault discretization, however, introduces an artificial lower limit to roughness. Individual fault patches are planar and subpatch roughness-roughness at spatial scales below fault patch size-is not incorporated. Does negligence of subpatch roughness measurably affect the outcome of earthquake rupture simulations? We approach this question with a numerical parameter space investigation and demonstrate that subpatch roughness significantly modifies the slip-strain relationship- A fundamental aspect of dislocation theory. Faults with subpatch roughness induce less strain than their planar-fault equivalents at distances beyond the length of a slipping fault. We further provide regression functions that characterize the stochastic effect subpatch roughness.