The rupture process of the source of the 2016 Ecuador earthquake (Mw 7.8)

• Autores: Jimenéz, César, Saavedra Juan De Dios, Miguel, Olcese Huerta, Daniel, Moreno, Nick
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2020
• Institución: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
• Repositorio: Revistas - Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:ojs.csi.unmsm:article/20282
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistasinvestigacion.unmsm.edu.pe/index.php/fisica/article/view/20282
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Ecuador earthquake; seismic inversion; focal mechanism; Terremoto de Ecuador; inversión sísmica; mecanismo focal

The 2016 Ecuador earthquake (Mw 7.8), is part of the sequence of large earthquakes in Ecuador and Colombia: 1906 (8.4 to 8.8 Mw), 1942 (Mw 7.8), 1958 (Mw 7.7), 1979 (Mw 8.2), all these events with a focal mechanism of the thrust fault type. In this research, we have obtain the seismic source distribution (indicating the presence of 2 main asperities), from inversion of teleseismic signals, as well as the parameters of the seismic rupture process: focal mechanism that indicates a type of inverse fault (strike = 25°, dip = 12°, rake = 118°) for a focal depth of 23 km and the source time function indicating a composite event, the duration of the rupture process was around 70 s, assuming an average rupture velocity of 3.0 km/s. The seismic moment was calculated at 5.74x10{20} Nm, equivalent to a magnitude of Mw 7.8. The smallest asperity is located around the epicenter and the main asperity is located around the coastline to the south-east of the epicenter. The maximum dislocation or slip was 3.8 m. In this case, the vertical coseismic deformation pattern does not favor the generation of a large tsunami.