Tremors along the Queen Charlotte Margin triggered by large teleseismic earthquakes

Abstract

We conduct a systematic search of tectonic tremors along the Queen Charlotte Margin (QCM) in western Canada triggered by distant earthquakes. We identify triggered tremor as non-impulsive, high-frequency signals coherent among several stations and coincident with passing surface waves. So far, the 2002 Mw7.9 Denali Fault, the 2004 Mw9.2 Sumatra, and the 2011 Mw9.1 Tohoku-Oki earthquakes have triggered clear tremor in this region. The 2010 Mw8.8 Maule, Chile and the 2012 Mw8.6 Sumatra earthquakes may have triggered, but tremors in these two cases did not meet all of our criteria. The triggered tremors are mostly located east of the Queen Charlotte Fault in the southern portion of Haida Gwaii, near the epicenter of the 28 October 2012 Mw7.7 earthquake. Similar to the observations in other regions, the triggered tremors were initiated by the Love waves and continued during the subsequent Rayleigh waves. Tremor bursts correlate with both the particle velocity and displacement of the Love waves, indicating they are triggered at either low-angle thrust or vertical strike-slip faults. In addition, we find that the triggering potential for the QCM is controlled by a combination of amplitude, period, and incident angles. © 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.