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The 15 May 2020 Mw 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake (MCRE) in Nevada, United States, is the largest instrumental event in the Mina deflection—a zone of east-trending left-lateral faults accommodating a right step between northwest-trending right-lateral faults of the Walker Lane. The MCRE ruptured a highly distributed faulting area with muted geomorphic expressions, motivating us to characterize the behavior of an earthquake on a structurally immature fault system. Inverse modeling of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) displacements reveals left-lateral slip on an east-striking, eastern fault and left-lateral–normal slip on an east-northeast-striking, western fault. Unusually, the two faults cross one another and ruptured together in the mainshock. The maximum slip of 1 m occurs at 8–10 km depth, but less than 0.1 m of slip reaches the surficial model fault patches, yielding a pronounced shallow slip deficit (SSD) of 91%. Relocated hypocenters indicate that the mainshock initiated at 9 km depth and that aftershocks span depths of 1–11 km, constraining the local seismogenic thickness. Our new field observations of fracturing and pebble-clearing in the western MCRE characterize a third, shorter, northern fault that is at the resolution limit of the InSAR–GNSS modeling. The segmented and intersecting fault geometry, off-fault aftershocks with variable mechanisms, distributed surface fractures, limited long-term geomorphic offsets, and a 600–700 m (cumulative) bedrock offset are all characteristic of a structurally immature fault system. However, the large SSD is not unusual for an earthquake of this magnitude, and a larger compilation of InSAR models (28 Mw≥6.4 strike-slip events) shows that SSDs correlate with magnitude rather than structural maturity. This study demonstrates the importance of integrating geodesy, seismology, and field observations to capture the full complexity of large earthquakes, and further suggests that seismic hazard assessments in shattered crustal regions consider the potential for multi- and cross-fault rupture.

The M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake that occurred in the central Walker Lane on 15 May 2020 was the largest earthquake in Nevada in 66 yr and resulted in a multidisciplinary scientific field response. The earthquake was the result of left-lateral slip along largely unmapped parts of the Candelaria fault, one of a series of east–northeast-striking faults that comprise the Mina deflection, a major right step in the north–northwest structural grain of the central Walker Lane. We describe the characteristics of the surface rupture and document distinct differences in the style and orientation of fractures produced along the 28 km long rupture zone. Along the western part of the rupture, left-lateral and extensional displacements occurred along northeasterly and north-striking planes that splay off the eastern termination of the mapped Candelaria fault. To the east, extensional and right-lateral displacements occurred along predominantly north-striking planes that project toward well-defined Quaternary and bedrock faults. Although, the largest left-lateral displacement observed was ∼20 cm, the majority of displacements were

The Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred on 4 and 5 July 2019 within the eastern California shear zone of southern California. Both events produced extensive surface faulting and ground deformation within Indian Wells Valley and Searles Valley. In the weeks following the earthquakes, more than six dozen scientists from government, academia, and the private sector carefully documented the surface faulting and ground-deformation features. As of December 2019, we have compiled a total of more than 6000 ground observations; approximately 1500 of these simply note the presence or absence of fault rupture or ground failure, but the remainder include detailed descriptions and other documentation, including tens of thousands of photographs. More than 1100 of these observations also include quantitative field measurements of displacement sense and magnitude. These field observations were supplemented by mapping of fault rupture and ground-deformation features directly in the field as well as by interpreting the location and extent of surface faulting and ground deformation from optical imagery and geodetic image products. We identified greater than 68 km of fault rupture produced by both earthquakes as well as numerous sites of ground deformation resulting from liquefaction or slope failure. These observations comprise a dataset that is fundamental to understanding the processes that controlled this earthquake sequence and for improving earthquake hazard estimates in the region. This article documents the types of data collected during postearthquake field investigations, the compilation effort, and the digital data products resulting from these efforts.

The July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes in southeastern California were characterized as surprising by some, because only ∼35% of the rupture occurred on previously mapped faults. Employing more detailed inspection of pre-event high-resolution topography and imagery in combination with field observations, we document evidence of active faulting in the landscape along the entire fault system. Scarps, deflected drainages, and lineaments and contrasts in topography, vegetation, and ground color demonstrate previous slip on a dense network of orthogonal faults, consistent with patterns of ground surface rupture observed in 2019. Not all of these newly mapped fault strands ruptured in 2019. Outcrop-scale field observations additionally reveal tufa lineaments and sheared Quaternary deposits. Neotectonic features are commonly short (

Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left-lateral and northeast-striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right-lateral and northwest-striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field-based, surface-displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize our results into cumulative along-strike displacement distributions. Using these data, we calculate displacement gradients and compare our results with historical strike-slip ruptures in the eastern California shear zone. For the Mw 6.4 rupture, we report 96 displacements measured along 18 km of northeast-striking rupture. Cumulative displacement curves for the rupture yield a mean left-lateral displacement of 0.3–0.5 m and maximum of 0.7–1.6 m. Net mean vertical displacement based on the difference of down-to-the-west (DTW) and down-to-the-east (DTE) displacement curves is close to zero (0.02 m DTW). The Mw 6.4 displacement distribution shows that the majority of displacement occurred southwest of the intersection with the Mw 7.1 rupture. The Mw 7.1 rupture is northwest-striking and 50 km long based on 576 field measurements. Displacement curves indicate a mean right-lateral displacement of 1.2–1.7 m and a maximum of 4.3–7.0 m. Net vertical displacement in the rupture averages 0.3 m DTW. The Mw 7.1 displacement distributions demonstrate that maximum displacement occurred along a 12-km-long portion of the fault near the Mw 7.1 epicenter, releasing 66% of the geologically based seismic moment along 24% of the total rupture length. Using our displacement distributions, we calculate kilometer-scale displacement gradients for the Mw 7.1 rupture. The steepest gradients (∼1–3 m/km) flank the 12-km-long region of maximum displacement. In contrast, gradients for the 1992 Mw 7.3 Landers and 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine earthquakes are

Aerial photographs were collected in the days immediately following the 4–5 July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence (e.g., Barnhart et al., 2019) along the publically accessible sections of the surface ruptures south of California 178. These photos were then used to produce structure-from-motion point cloud models and orthophotos with resolutions varying from ∼1 to 20 cm/pixel. Here, the models are released and initial observations of the nature of the surface ruptures are presented.

The left-lateral slip rate of the Tianjingshan fault (TJSF) has been debated for several decades. Here, we measured displacements of geomorphic landforms and dated landform ages at two sites along the TJSF, to determine a late Pleistocene to Holocene slip rate of ~1.1 ± 0.2 mm/yr. We also derived a slip rate of ~1.1 ± 0.5 mm/yr using modern GPS data. Finally, by correlating available offset measurements with trenching-derived paleoseismic data, we obtained an average Holocene slip rate of ~1.2 ± 0.1 mm/yr for the TJSF. These fault slip rates over different time scales are in good agreement and are well constrained to 1.1 ± 0.2 mm/yr. The kinematics of the TJSF suggest that the TJSF has played an important role in accommodating the tectonic deformation of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.

The northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings are a tectonically complex region resulting from the continuing collision of India with Eurasia. We studied the tectonic deformation of this region using a GPS block model, which was produced using the most recently published, dense, precise, and complete GPS velocities available combined with a detailed fault geometry. The comparison between our preferred model with numerous faults and a model with fewer faults demonstrates the need for inclusion of lesser active faults affords a closer examination of strain partitioning. The predicted senses of motion and slip rates of active faults in our preferred model are consistent with the geological estimates, supporting the assumption that the decadal GPS slip rates are representative of millennial-scale geologic slip rates. The observed fault kinematics in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings can be interpreted as the consequence of relative motions between different blocks and block rotations. Published version This study was financed by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC1500101), the second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (2019QZKK0901), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41590861), and the Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships for Ian K.D. Pierce. William C. Hammond acknowledges support from US National Science Foundation project 0610031 and US Geological Survey project G17AP00004.

An excavation across the Himalayan Frontal Thrust near Damak in eastern Nepal shows displacement on a fault plane dipping ~22° has produced vertical separation across a scarp equal to 5.5 m. Stratigraphic, structural, geometrical, and radiocarbon observations are interpreted to indicate the displacement is the result of a single earthquake of 11.3 ± 3.5 m of dip-slip displacement that occurred 1146 – 1256 AD. Empirical scaling laws indicate that thrust earthquakes characterized by average displacements of this size may produce rupture lengths of 450 - > 800 km and moment-magnitudes Mw of 8.6 to > 9. Sufficient strain has accumulated along this portion of the Himalayan arc during the roughly 800 years since the 1146 – 1256 AD earthquake to produce another earthquake displacement of similar size.

The 2015 Gorkha earthquake produced displacement on the lower half of a shallow decollement that extends 100 km south, and upward from beneath the High Himalaya and Kathmandu to where it breaks the surface to form the trace of the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT), leaving unruptured the shallowest ∼50 km of the decollement. To address the potential of future earthquakes along this section of the HFT, we examine structural, stratigraphic, and radiocarbon relationships in exposures created by emplacement of trenches across the HFT where it has produced scarps in young alluvium at the mouths of major rivers at Tribeni and Bagmati. The Bagmati site is located south of Kathmandu and directly up dip from the Gorkha rupture, whereas the Tribeni site is located ∼200 km to the west and outside the up dip projection of the Gorkha earthquake rupture plane. The most recent rupture at Tribeni occurred 1221–1262 AD to produce a scarp of ∼7 m vertical separation. Vertical separation across the scarp at Bagmati registers ∼10 m, possibly greater, and formed between 1031–1321 AD. The temporal constraints and large displacements allow the interpretation that the two sites separated by ∼200 km each ruptured simultaneously, possibly during 1255 AD, the year of a historically reported earthquake that produced damage in Kathmandu. In light of geodetic data that show ∼20 mm/yr of crustal shortening is occurring across the Himalayan front, the sum of observations is interpreted to suggest that the HFT extending from Tribeni to Bagmati may rupture simultaneously, that the next great earthquake near Kathmandu may rupture an area significantly greater than the section of HFT up dip from the Gorkha earthquake, and that it is prudent to consider that the HFT near Kathmandu is well along in a strain accumulation cycle prior to a great thrust earthquake, most likely much greater than occurred in 2015.

A reexamination of the observations and analysis recently reported to conclude that an 800 km section of the Himalayan Frontal Thrust ruptured in 1255 A.D. shows that the conclusion is flawed and without merit because of misinterpretations of trench logs and incorrect interpretation of radiocarbon statistics.

Fault scarps and uplifted terraces in young alluvium are frequent occurrences along the trace of the northerly dipping Himalayan frontal thrust (HFT). Generally, it was expected that the 25 April 2015 M 7.8 Gorkha earthquake of Nepal would produce fresh scarps along the fault trace. Contrary to expectation, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and aftershock studies soon indicated the rupture of the HFT was confined to the subsurface, terminating on the order of 50 km north of the trace of the HFT. We undertook a field survey along the trace of the HFT and along faults and lineaments within the Kathmandu Valley eight days after the earthquake. Our field survey confirmed the lack of surface rupture along the HFT and the mapped faults and lineaments in Kathmandu Valley. The only significant ground deformation we observed was limited to an ∼1-km-long northeast-trending fracture set in the district of Kausaltar within Kathmandu. This feature is interpreted not to be the result of tectonic displacement, but rather a localized extension along a ridge. Our survey also shows the ubiquitous presence of fallen chimneys of brick kilns along the HFT and within the Kathmandu Valley. Measurements of a small subset of fallen chimneys across the region suggest a degree of systematic fall direction of the chimneys when subdivided geographically.