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The 22 June 2022 Mw 6.2 Khōst, Afghanistan, earthquake struck killing more than 1700 people and devastating the region. For studying this earthquake, we computed the coseismic deformation fields of the earthquake using the Sentinel-1 Terrain Observation with Progressive Scans Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The InSAR results show that the maximum coseismic displacement in the satellite line of sight direction reaches up to 39 cm. We determined the geometric parameters of the fault and coseismic slip distribution from these InSAR measurements. The best-fitted fault model shows that the rupture occurred on a right-lateral strike-slip fault with a strike of 203.7° and a dip of 68°. The most slip is concentrated at a shallow depth within the upper 10 km with the maximum slip of ∼3 m at 2.5 km depth. The maximum slip produced by this earthquake is significantly larger than the slip produced by several other similar earthquakes with similar magnitudes, implying that the focused shallow slip is likely the reason for the significant damage in the earthquake. The heavy rainfall was recorded during the earthquake period, which resulted in complicated fringes in coseismic interferograms close to the earthquake in time. Because a positive spatial and temporal correlation with the earthquake occurrence can be seen, the rainfall may have potential contributions to the earthquake, which deserves additional analysis in future. Combined with the potential effects of the 2015 Mw 7.5 Hindu Kush deep-seated earthquake, the seismicity in Afghanistan is the result of the ongoing subduction of the Indian plate beneath the Eurasian plate along their west boundary.

SUMMARY Makran subduction zone is very active with ∼38 mm yr−1 convergence rate and has experienced great earthquakes in the past. The latest great earthquake of 1945 Mw 8.1 event also triggered a large tsunami and led to ∼4000 casualties. However, due to incomplete historical seismicity records and poor modern instrumentation, earthquake mechanism, co-seismic slip and tsunami characteristics in Makran remain unclear. On 2017 February 17, an Mw 6.3 earthquake rattled offshore Pasni of Pakistan in the eastern Makran, marking the largest event after the 1945 Mw 8.1 earthquake with good geodetic and geophysical data coverage. We use a combination of seismicity, multibeam bathymetry, seismic profile, InSAR measurements and tide-gauge observation to investigate the seismogenic structure, co-seismic deformation, tsunami characteristics of this event and its implication for future major earthquakes. Our results indicate that (1) the earthquake occurred on the shallow-dipping (3°–4°) megathrust; (2) the megathrust co-seismically slipped 15 cm and caused ∼2–4 cm ground subsidence and uplift at Pasni; (3) our tsunami modelling reproduces the observed 5-cm-high small tsunami waveforms. The Pasni earthquake rupture largely overlaps the 1945 slip patch and disturbs the west and east megathrust segments that have not ruptured yet at least since 1765. With such stress perturbation and possible stress evolution effect from the 1945 earthquake, the unruptured patches may fail in the future. This study calls for more preparedness in mitigating earthquake and associated hazards in the eastern Makran.

The 8 August 2017 Mw 6.5 Jiuzhaigou earthquake occurred in a tectonically fractured region in southwest China. We investigate the multifault coseismic rupture process by jointly analyzing teleseismic, strong-motion, high-rate Global Positioning System, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) datasets. We clearly identify two right-stepping fault segments and a compressional stepover based on variations in focal mechanisms constrained by coseismic InSAR deformation data. The average geometric parameters of the northwest and southeast segments are strike = 130°/dip = 57° and strike = 151°/dip = 70°, respectively. The rupture model estimated from a joint inversion of the seismic and geodetic datasets indicates that the rupture initiated on the southeastern segment and jumped to the northwestern segment, resulting in distinctive slip patches on the two segments. A 4-km-long coseismic slip gap was identified around the stepover, consistent with the aftershock locations and mechanisms. The right-stepping segmentation and coseismic rupture across the compressional stepover exhibited by the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake are reminiscent of the multifault rupture pattern during the 1976 Songpan earthquake sequence farther south along the Huya fault system in three successive Ms∼7 events. Although the common features of fault geometry and stepover may control the similarity in event locations and focal mechanisms of the 2017 and 1976 sequences, the significantly wider (~15 km) stepover in the 1976 sequence likely prohibited coseismic rupture jumping and hence reduced seismic hazard.

On 8 August 2017, an Ms 7.0 earthquake struck the Jiuzhaigou town, Sichuan Province, China, rupturing an unmapped fault, which is adjacent to the Maqu seismic gap in the Min Shan uplift zone in the easternmost part of the Bayan Har block. Having summarized the previous studies on the source of this earthquake, we confirmed the rupture model by jointly inverting the teleseismic P-wave and SH-wave data, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar line-of-sight displacement data, and the near-field seismic and strong-motion data, a most complete dataset until now. The confirmation showed that a scalar seismic moment of 6.6×1018 N·m was released (corresponding to a moment magnitude of Mw 6.5), and 95% of the release occurred in the first 10 s. The slip area was composed of two asperities, with a horizontal extension of ∼20 km and a depth range of ∼2–15 km. A bilateral extending occurred at shallow depths, but the rupturing upward from deep depth dominated in the early time. The rupture process was found generally featuring the slip-pulse mode, which was related to the weak prestress condition. The aftershocks almost took place in gaps of the mainshock slip because of the coulomb stress change. Combining the aftershock relocations, aftershock focal mechanism solutions, and our confirmed rupture model, we suggest that the seismogenic fault was a northward extension of the mapped Huya fault. The occurrence of this earthquake made the Maqu seismic gap at a higher level of seismic risk, in addition to the moderate to high strain accumulation on the easternmost tip of the Kunlun fault system and the weak lower crust below.

TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurements (TanDEM-X) mission is designed to generate 3-D images of the Earth as the first bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR). However, few quantitative studies of TanDEM-X digital elevation model (DEM) quality validation have been conducted specifically in China. This article presents an iterative method to generate high-resolution TanDEM-X DEMs and assesses the vertical accuracy with high-accuracy GPS observations, 1 arc second global DEMs available [Advanced Land Observing Satellite World 3-D-30 m v2.2, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM) v3, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) v3.1, NASADEM, and X-band SRTM], and TanDEM-X 90 m DEM. The results demonstrate remarkable elevation quality and consistency in coastal areas with root mean square error of 1.7 m and 90% linear error (LE90) of 0.4 m, whereas 3–4 times weaker accuracies in steep mountainous areas. A positive bias of 1–2 m for an overall LE90 measure exists in the dense vegetation and steep-slope mountainous areas. TanDEM-X DEM-based SAR interferometry deformation uncertainty simulation indicates a low or even negligible topographic error contribution of 2–4 mm in mountainous areas and less than 1 mm in coastal areas. It indicates that the TanDEM-X DEM performs better than other global DEMs overall and shows a better elevation consistence with SRTM C-band DEM in the coastal area. As an excellent source of up-to-date information, the TanDEM-X DEM are expected be an advantage for understanding dynamic land use changes and improving identification and delineation of coastal lands, mountainous landslides, and earthquakes disasters.

On 8 August 2017, an Ms 6.6 earthquake occurred in the northeastern Tien Shan orogenic belt. To reveal the source characteristics of this earthquake completely, the teleseismic and near-field seismic waveform data were collected as well as the coseismic Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar displacement data, and the methods of the backprojection and the finite-fault joint inversion were adopted. The backprojection of the teleseismic recordings indicates a unilateral rupture propagating 15 km westward. Two stages of the rupture were recognized from the backprojection results: in the first ∼5 s, the rupture took place near the hypocenter, with an accelerating energy release but a small rupture velocity; then the rupture extended to the west, with a decelerating energy release but a relatively fast rupture velocity. The joint inversion of the multiple datasets shows a major slip asperity of about 24 km × 18 km. The asperity extended mainly to the west, with a duration of approximately 10 s. The average rupture velocity over the asperity was estimated to be approximately 2.0 km/s, which is close to that 1.9 km/s estimated by the backprojection. It is interesting that the high-frequency sources were aligned almost on the margin of the slip asperity. Moreover, the occurrence of the earthquake sequence is found to relate with the low-VP/VS zone, implying a tectonic property, which controls the nucleation and rupture of earthquakes.

Atmospheric heterogeneity mainly exposes itself as tropospheric-phase delay in Satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture radar (InSAR) observations, which smears or even overshadows the deformation component of InSAR measurements. In this study, we estimated the performance of four Global Atmospheric Models (GAMs), i.e. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis v5 (ERA5), ERA-Interim (ERA-I), Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications v2 (MERRA2) and Generic Atmospheric Correction Online Service for InSAR (GACOS), for tropospheric-phase delay reduction in InSAR applications in the Tibetan plateau, of which ERA5 is the latest GAM released by ECMWF. We demonstrated the effectiveness of Atmospheric Phase Screen (APS) correction using the four GAMs for more than 700 Sentinel-1 Terrain Observation by Progressive Scans interferograms covering two study areas in the southern (R1) and northwest margins (R2) of the Tibetan plateau. Topography-correlated signals have been widely observed in these interferograms, which are most likely due to the APS effects. We calculated the Standard Deviations (SD) and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficients (r) between InSAR Line of Sight measurements and topography before and after applying APS correction. The results show that the SDs of non-deformation areas from the GAMs decrease to approximately 4 mm from around 10 mm and 12 mm originally on average for R1 and R2, respectively, and the r after the APS correction are reduced below 0.4 from around 0.8 for the selected interferometric pairs. In addition, as the newly released GAM, ERA5 has similar performance with GACOS products and outperforms other models generally. This suggests that GAMs, particularly ERA5, have great potential in the APS correction for InSAR applications in the Tibetan plateau.

We investigated an M_w ∼ 6.2 earthquake doublet on the border of the USA and Canada using ALOS2 Light-of-Sight displacements and GPS measurements. We selected three L-band ALOS-2 interfergorams with temporal baselines of one yr to extract coseismic deformation maps, in which master and slave images were both acquired in July. A subpixel-based alignment and another range spectral splitting techniques under the GAMMA InSAR software framework were applied to improve the interferometric coherence and reduce the effects of phase anomalies in two of the three interferometric pairs due to either ionospheric delay or a potential focusing issues in the generation of the ALOS2 SLC data. The updated interferograms convincingly reveal deformation fringe patterns produced by the two earthquakes. We conducted a nonlinear geophysical inversion to estimate the geometric parameters of the earthquakes with the InSAR and GPS measurements. The best-fitting model shows that a thrust faulting on a reverse fault and left-lateral strike-slip faulting on a nearly vertical fault with the centroid depths of 9.3±0.6 and 8.4±0.7 km, respectively, are most likely responsible for the earthquake doublet. The eastern Denali fault (EDF) and Duke River fault are major active faults in the region and the earthquake doublet could be due to reactivation of the part of the two faults system.

On October 30 2020 11:51 UTC, a Mw 6.9 normal fault earthquake occurred off the northern coasts of Samos Island, Eastern Aegean, Greece. Over a 120 people were killed and more than 1000 people were injured during the seismic sequence. The quake produced a moderate tsunami that swapped the coastal areas of Izmir (Turkey) and Samos (Greece) with inundation heights up to ~3 m. Finding the source of such a tsunami has been puzzling as a normal fault earthquake with Mw 6.9 would not be considered significant enough to generate metric-scale waves. Furthermore, the lack of near-field observations has made the identification of the seismogenic fault responsible for the mainshock difficult. In this study, we infer the source characteristics from multiple observation data, including InSAR, GPS, teleseismic waves and tsunami waves. We first generate two Sentinel-1 co-seismic interferograms with a maximum Line of Sight (LOS) change of 8 cm on the coastal areas at the Samos island. We obtain a north-dipping fault model, which can slightly better explain the geodetic observations and teleseismic P waves. To understand the potential tsunami source, we use several earthquake slip models collected from different research groups to conduct tsunami simulations. Comparing simulated tsunami waveforms with those measured at 6 local tide gauges, we show that the north-dipping fault can fit tsunami records better than the south-dipping fault. The north-dipping fault hypothesis is also further supported by the spatial distributions of the aftershocks. The spectral analysis of tsunami waveforms at selected tide gauges suggests that the tsunami period band is within 4.6 ~ 21.3 min and the primary wave period is ~14.2 min. Using this wave period as an indirect constraint, we show that the source dimension of our slip model can produce tsunami waveforms with similar wave period. We also find high-energy wave of the Samos earthquake that lasted 20 h, and fundamental oscillation periods of Sığacık Bay are remarkably close to some dominating tsunami periods. We infer the coseismic seafloor displacement alone is not enough to create disastrous effects on coastal cities; therefore we suggest that the tsunami waves may have been amplified by local coastline and tsunami resonance with local bay, or another source, e.g. triggered landslides.

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data is of high spatial resolution and has been widely used in measuring surface deformation generated by earthquakes. However, the temporal resolution of InSAR data is relatively poor from an individual mode SAR sensor. A series of earthquakes hit Kumamoto, Japan in April 2016. These earthquakes were considered to be a sequence that started from two foreshocks (TFS) larger than Mw 6.0 and reached its climax for the largest earthquake of Mw7.0 only after 28 hours. To better reveal the source model characteristics of the TFS and the main shock, we firstly determined the geometrical parameters using the aftershock re-location data and the surface fault rupture data of field survey, and then applied multi-mode InSAR data only covering the TFS and the whole sequence, respectively, to carry out the joint inversion of respective source models based on the time correlation between the TFS and the main shock. The results show that both the source models determined here are well consistent with previous results constrained by seismological data. The strategy of inversion used in this study suggests that we may separate multiple seismic sources sequence from geodetic observations using the joint inversion based on the time correlation.

We reveal transient surface deformation following the 2017 Mw7.3 Sarpol Zahab (Iran) earthquake using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements. Based on the coseismic interferograms derived from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite‐2 (ALOS‐2) data, the preferred slip model of the earthquake has a centroid depth of 14.5 ± 4 km and suggests that a basement fault is most likely responsible for the 2017 earthquake in the northwest Zagros fold‐thrust belt zone. Two slip asperities with a maximum slip of 6 m separated by 16 km are observed in the best fitting slip model. The accumulated afterslip in the first month after the mainshock determined from the Sentinel‐1 postseismic interferograms reveals a slip distribution that lies immediately updip of the coseismic slip, implying that frictional properties of the fault vary along the rupture patch. The Bamo Mount in the earthquake area was uplifted by approximately 1 m during the earthquake. We suggest that local topographic growth from both seismic and aseismic faulting behaviors is common within the Zagros fold‐thrust belt zone based on our findings regarding the 2017 earthquake and other significant events in the region. Published version

On November 13, 2016, an MW7.8 earthquake struck Kaikoura in South Island of New Zealand. By means of back-projection of array recordings, ASTFs-analysis of global seismic recordings, and joint inversion of global seismic data and co-seismic InSAR data, we investigated complexity of the earthquake source. The result shows that the 2016 MW7.8 Kaikoura earthquake ruptured about 100 s unilaterally from south to northeast (~N28°–33°E), producing a rupture area about 160 km long and about 50 km wide and releasing scalar moment 1.01×1021 Nm. In particular, the rupture area consisted of two slip asperities, with one close to the initial rupture point having a maximal slip value ~6.9 m while the other far away in the northeast having a maximal slip value ~9.3 m. The first asperity slipped for about 65 s and the second one started 40 s after the first one had initiated. The two slipped simultaneously for about 25 s. Furthermore, the first had a nearly thrust slip while the second had both thrust and strike slip. It is interesting that the rupture velocity was not constant, and the whole process may be divided into 5 stages in which the velocities were estimated to be 1.4 km/s, 0 km/s, 2.1 km/s, 0 km/s and 1.1 km/s, respectively. The high-frequency sources distributed nearly along the lower edge of the rupture area, the high-frequency radiating mainly occurred at launching of the asperities, and it seemed that no high-frequency energy was radiated when the rupturing was going to stop.

An unusual earthquake doublet ruptured the high-risk middle segment of the Xianshuihe fault in November 2014, exhibiting significant variations in the rupture and aftershock characteristics. By conducting rupture kinematic inversions jointly with local broadband seismic data, strong-motion data, and coseismic InSAR data, we find diverse rupture processes of this earthquake doublet. The first event ruptured upward along the dip and bilaterally along the strike with the duration of 8.0 s, whereas the second event ruptured mainly around the hypocenter with the duration of 3.5 s. The estimated moment magnitudes of the first and second events of this earthquake doublet were MW 6.0 and MW 5.7, respectively. The further analysis of rupture model-based static and dynamic stress change suggests that the first event is likely responsible for triggering the second event. Based on the comprehensive analysis of aftershock migration features, we find complex and diverse driving mechanisms of aftershocks. Aftershocks of the first event of the earthquake doublet were likely driven by afterslip. Early aftershocks of the second event were also likely driven by afterslip; however, later aftershocks were likely driven by fluid diffusion. The revealed diverse rupture characteristics of the 2014 Kanding earthquake doublet sequence suggest the inherent strength and/or stress heterogeneities on the seismogenic faults.

The 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake has drawn interest due to its complex fault geometry. Both geodetic and geologic studies have focused on the dip variations. In this study we invert the coseismic geodetic data for the 2-D dip variations of the earthquake. The best fit model confirms that the dip varies with depth, and suggests that there is a significant lateral dip anomaly along strike. The depth-dependent dip variation suggests that the earthquake ruptured a ramp-flat fault. The shallow ramp may have prevented the rupture breaking through the surface. In addition, a lateral large-dip anomaly is found in the northeastern corner of the slip area, which supports the previous findings of inferred interseismic fault coupling, coseismic high-frequency radiations, and the aftershock mechanisms. This lateral dip anomaly is likely associated with local tearing within the Indian slab. It may have blocked the east-southeastward rupture propagations of the Gorkha earthquake, implying important controls on the earthquake scale and the spatial limits of ruptures.

Space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides an opportunity for monitoring ground deformation at active volcanoes with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Modern SAR satellites acquire very large volumes of data that no longer can be effectively and efficiently processed and interpreted manually. The development of novel automatic processing methodologies is warranted in order to fully utilize big data. The Multidimensional Small Baseline Subset (MSBAS) methodology is an example of the semi-automatic processing system for computing temporally dense two-dimensional, horizontal east-west and vertical time series of ground deformation from ascending and descending SAR imagery acquired by various satellites. Here MSBAS is used for mapping ground deformation at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano (La Reunion Island, France) during the February 2012–April 2016 period from RADARSAT-2 data. Five volcanic eruptions occurred during the June 2014–October 2015 period, producing over 60cm of horizontal and over 30cm of vertical ground deformation, well-resolved in the MSBAS-derived time series. Validation of DInSAR results by comparison with GNSS observations and modeling of the two last and largest eruptions was performed. Validation showed good overall agreement between DInSAR and GNSS observations while revealing the benefits and limitations of both techniques. Modeling of fault and dike geometries attempted to explain the dis-proportionally large eastward motion of the eastern flank of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano that occurred during these eruptions. We demonstrated that the simple elastic model consisting of two dikes and a sliding surface can account for the observed ground deformation.

We present RADARSAT-2 Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) observations of deformation due to fluid extraction at the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF) and afterslip on the 2010 M7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah (EMC) earthquake rupture during 2011–2016. Advanced multidimensional time series analysis reveals subsidence at the CPGF with the maximum rate greater than 100 mm/yr accompanied by horizontal motion (radial contraction) at a rate greater than 30 mm/yr. During the same time period, more than 30 mm of surface creep occurred on the Indiviso fault ruptured by the EMC earthquake. We performed inversions of DInSAR data to estimate the rate of volume changes at depth due to the geothermal production at the CPGF and the distribution of afterslip on the Indiviso fault. The maximum coseismic slip due to the EMC earthquake correlates with the Coulomb stress changes on the Indiviso fault due to fluid extraction at the CPGF. Afterslip occurs on the periphery of maximum coseismic slip areas. Time series analysis indicates that afterslip still occurs 6 years after the earthquake.

In this study, we present inter-, co- and post-seismic displacements observed in the 2015 Illapel earthquake area by Global Positioning System (GPS) and Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR). RADARSAT-2, ALOS-2 and Sentinel-1A interferograms capture the co- and post-seismic displacements due to the Illapel earthquake. Based on a layered Earth structure, we modeled both co- and post-seismic faulting behaviors on the subduction interface of central Chile. The best-fit model shows that the coseismic rupture broke a 200 km × 200 km area with a maximum slip of 10 m at a depth of 20 km. Two distinct slip centers, likely controlled by local ramp-flat structure, are revealed. The total coseismic geodetic moment is 2.76 × 10 21 N m , equivalent to a moment magnitude 8.3. The accumulated afterslip in the first two months after the mainshock is observed on both sides of the coseismic rupture zone with both ascending and descending Sentinel-1A interferograms. A limited overlap zone between co- and post-seismic slip models can be observed, suggesting partitioning of the frictional properties within the Illapel earthquake rupture zone. The total afterslip releases ∼ 5.0 × 10 20 N m geodetic moment, which is equivalent to an earthquake of M w 7.7. The 2010 M w 8.8 Maule earthquake that occurred ∼400 km away from the Illapel earthquake epicenter could have exerted certain effects on the seismic cycle of the Illapel earthquake area. The seismic records from 2000 to 2015 imply that the rate of annual seismic moment release in the Illapel earthquake area dropped from 0.4 to 0.2 × 10 19 N m / yr after the Maule earthquake. Based on the forward modeling with the best-fit slip models determined in this study, we reproduce the local surface displacements before, during and after the Illapel earthquake. A rough deformation cycle, 105 ± 29 yr , calculated by using the coseismic displacements and interseismic rate is basically identical with the revisit interval of M8 events in the adjacent areas of the Illapel earthquake, suggesting that elastic rebound theory is applicable for the long-term prediction in this region.

Permanent surface deformation caused by the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes has been directly measured, constraining the mechanics of surface damage in earthquakes.

Wildfires could have a strong impact on tundra environment by combusting surface vegetation and soil organic matter. For surface vegetation, many years are required to recover to pre-fire level. In this paper, by using C-band (VV/HV polarization) and L-band (HH polarization) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired before and after fire from 2002 to 2016, we investigated vegetation change affected by the Anaktuvuk River Fire in Arctic tundra environment. Compared to the unburned areas, C- and L-band SAR backscatter coefficients increased by up to 5.5 and 4.4 dB in the severely burned areas after the fire. Then past 5 years following the fire, the C-band SAR backscatter differences decreased to pre-fire level between the burned and unburned areas, suggesting that vegetation coverage in burned sites had recovered to the unburned level. This duration is longer than the 3-year recovery suggested by optical-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) observations. While for the L-band SAR backscatter after 10-year recovery, about 2 dB higher was still found in the severely burned area, compared to the unburned area. The increased roughness of the surface is probably the reason for such sustained differences. Our analysis implies that long records of space-borne SAR backscatter can monitor post-fire vegetation recovery in Arctic tundra environment and complement optical observations.

Abrupt change in the long term displacement trend was observed in the downtown of Seattle (Washington, USA) with the satellite Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR). The forty nine ascending and forty six descending RADARSAT-2 Spotlight SAR images with range-azimuth resolution of 1.6×0.8 m and ground coverage of 18×8 km were collected during June 6, 2012–August 16, 2015. The vertical deformation time series were computed from the ascending and descending data sets with the advanced Multidimensional Small Baseline Subset (MSBAS) software. During June 6, 2012–August 31, 2014 subsidence occurred along the two transportation routes, running north-south parallel to the coast line, reaching 2.5 cm. The long term deformation rate did not exceed 1.2 cm/year and was nearly constant during that time. After August 31, 2014, rapid subsidence appeared in the downtown of Seattle, in a region where it previously was not observed. Over the next four months during August 31, 2014–December 29, 2014 cumulative subsidence reached approximately 2.5 cm, which corresponds to an annual rate of 10 cm/year, about eight times faster than during the previous two years. The rate of subsidence remained high for an additional few months before converging to its secular value. The cause of subsidence was linked to the recent anthropogenic activities related to tunnel boring for Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project. The elliptical model for subsidence due to groundwater pumping proposed by Tiampo et al. (2012) was used to invert for the physical parameters of the associated groundwater pumping. The results are in good accordance with the location of pumping operations and the groundwater bearing strata in the region. Over a long period of time such fast subsidence will cause additional strain on urban infrastructure, particularly older, historic structures and high-rise buildings. This work provides an excellent example of the importance and applicability of rapid, accurate monitoring of ongoing, large infrastructure projects using DInSAR techniques in order to make optimal use of limited resources and perform early intervention and mitigation strategies.

The Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake struck central western Taiwan in 1999. The rupture was complex with several dislocations along the 100-km long Chelungpu thrust fault. Revisiting this earthquake is a challenge, as the precision and coverage of the data sets available are quite poor. Furthermore, the topographic and vegetation coverage complexity of the area prevents coherent radar images. In this paper, radar and optical images, and terrestrial geodetic measurements, were utilised to study the fault. The Particle Swarm Optimization and Okada Inversion (PSOKINV) geodetic inversion package was used with the generalized Akaike&rsquo, s Bayesian Information Criterion (gABIC) to precisely determine the slip distribution and relative weighting of datasets. Differences in results using the data sets jointly or separately (e.g., under-estimation due to InSAR, inconsistencies in SPOT offsets, smoother slip distribution with gABIC weighting) are observable. Most of the energy was released in the northern part of the fault, where the strike veers toward the east, and mainly at depths less than 4 km. The PSOKINV-gABIC approach is viable for the study of complicated cases such as the Chi-Chi earthquake and can significantly benefit the weight determination and physical realism of the fault geometry.

Over the past few decades, the coastal city of Shenzhen has been transformed from a small fishing village to a mega city as China’s first Special Economic Zone. The rapid economic development was matched by a sharp increase in the demand for usable land and coastal reclamation has been undertaken to create new land from the sea. However, it has been reported that subsidence occurred in land reclamation area and around subway tunnel area. Subsidence and the additional threat of coastal inundation from sea-level rise highlight the necessity of displacement monitoring in Shenzhen. The time Series InSAR technique is capable of detecting sub-centimeter displacement of the Earth’s surface over large areas. This study uses Envisat, COSMO-SkyMed, and Sentinel-1 datasets to determine the surface movements in Shenzhen from 2004 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2017. Subsidence observed can be attributable to both land reclamation and subway construction. Seasonal displacements are likely to be associated with precipitation. The influence of ocean tidal level changes on seasonal displacement is not strongly evident from the results and requires further investigations. In general, InSAR has proven its ability to provide accurate measurements of ground stability for the city of Shenzhen.

We use Sentinel‐1A/1B Terrain Observation with Progressive Scans (TOPS) data to map coseismic and postseismic displacements for the 25 November 2016 Mw 6.6 Muji earthquake in southwestern Xinjiang, China. Two tracks (T27 and T107) of the TOPS data captured the coseismic deformation area with a maximum line‐of‐sight deformation of ∼0.25 m in the descending track (T107). The inverted best‐fitting coseismic slip model in this study shows that the mainshock was a right‐lateral strike‐slip rupture on the western segment of the Muji fault, with an optimal dip angle of 80°±4°. Two separated slip zones exist in the coseismic slip model, with the maximum slip of 1.6 m located in the western slip zone. The total geodetic moment is 9.87×1018 N·m, equivalent to an earthquake of Mw 6.6. Our model shows that a patch between the two slip zones remained unruptured during the mainshock, indicating a potential future seismic risk. Aftershocks recorded in the first 45 days after the mainshock delineate the modeled rupture patches well. The components of the regional Global Positioning System velocities parallel to the Muji fault have been inverted to obtain an interseismic slip rate of ∼10 mm/yr on this structure. The recent large strike‐slip earthquakes in this area, that is, the 2015 Mw 7.2 Tajikistan earthquake (left‐lateral) and 2016 Mw 6.6 Muji earthquake (right‐lateral), may be an indicator of conjugate fault systems at the west boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates in response to north–south convergence produced by the collision of the two plates. NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore) MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) Published version

On 23rd October 2011, a MW 7.1 reverse slip earthquake occurred in the Bardakci-Saray thrust fault zone in the Van region, Eastern Turkey. Earlier geodetic studies have found different slip distributions in terms of both magnitude and pattern. In this paper, we present several COSMO-SkyMED (CSK), Envisat ASAR and RADARSAT-2 interferograms spanning different time intervals, showing that significant postseismic signals can be observed in the first three days after the mainshock. Using observations that combine coseismic and postseismic signals is shown to significantly underestimate coseismic slip. We hence employed the CSK pair with the minimum postseismic signals to generate one conventional interferogram and one along-track interferogram for further coseismic modelling. Our best-fit coseismic slip model suggests that: (1) this event is associated with a buried NNW dipping fault with a preferable dip angle of 49° and a maximum slip of 6.5 m at a depth of 12 km; and (2) two unequal asperities can be observed, consistent with previous seismic solutions. Significant oblique aseismic slip with predominant left-lateral slip components above the coseismic rupture zone within the first 3 days after the mainshock is also revealed by a postseismic CSK interferogram, indicating that the greatest principal stress axis might have rotated due to a significant stress drop during the coseismic rupture.