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Featured Application: Resource and environmental effects of the Tibetan Plateau. On 12 June 2021, an earthquake with MS 5.0 occurred in Yingjiang, adjacent to eastern Myanmar, where seismic activity is frequent due to plate collision. To explore the mechanism of this earthquake, the regional stress field of the Yingjiang zone was inverted using the focal mechanisms of 187 historical earthquakes in this area. Furthermore, based on the obtained orientation of the principal stress axes and the stress shape ratio, the fault slip tendency (Ts) was also estimated to evaluate fault instability in the study area. The stress variation results show that the diffusion and migration of the aftershocks suggested strike–slip-type stress accumulation in Yingjiang with a principal compressive stress axis direction-oriented NNE–SSW. Fault slip tendency results show that the seismogenic faults feature strikes within the ranges of 40~80° and 110~150° and dips of 60~90° and exhibit enhanced stress coupling. The distribution of the aftershock sequence is conjectured to have a high correlation with local fluid migration and was likely controlled by the hydrated rock-induced ruptures of the stressed fault systems near the source region. This study provides insights into potential earthquake risks in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from cold forearc to hot arc is considered fundamental to subduction dynamics. However, the range and depth of the cold nose changing significantly along the strike are difficult to constrain. By incorporating the three‐dimensional high‐resolution slab topography and MORVEL plate motion field to constrain thermomechanical modelling, we estimate the subduction thermal state and petrological dehydration in Izu‐Bonin. The multilayered hydrothermal regime gradually transitions from cold to less cold forearc, associated with a large‐scale subduction dewatering process varying along the strike. The dehydration embrittlement resulting from eclogitization and harzburgitization influences the occurrence of fast to slow earthquakes on megathrusts. Impressively, the cold nose is constrained to a depth of 60 km between the arc and Moho‐depth plate interface. The lowered temperature and delay of rock harzburgitization in the cold center of the subducted plate at depth contribute to the occurrence of deep earthquakes below the hot backarc interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on calculations of the tidal Coulomb failure stress and investigations of the correlation between the Earth tide and the Ning'er earthquake sequence, the processes of fault nucleation and failure were simulated. In these simulations we consider the influence of tidal stresses using the rate- and state-dependent friction laws. Furthermore, the effects on tidal triggering due to the stress amplitude and periodic oscillation properties were investigated, and the triggering effects between the tidal normal and tidal shear stresses were compared. The results showed that the Ning'er earthquake sequence was a physical consequence of tidal effects. A transition period T exists between the nucleation and failure processes of a seismic fault. When the period T of stress is equal to or becomes larger than T, the fault response becomes dependent on the periodic features of the loading stress; however, for T < T, the response of the fault is nearly independent of the period. Both the tidal normal and tidal shear stresses have similar effect in the nucleation and failure processes; the clock changes generally increase with the maximum amplitudes of the tidal stresses. Tidal normal and tidal shear stresses with positive amplitudes mainly induce earthquake triggering; however, the triggering effects induced by negative tidal stresses are smaller and faults are not sensitive to negative tidal stresses. Our results primarily reveal the physical mechanisms of tidal stress triggering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Following the 2001 Ms8.1 Kunlun earthquake, earthquake records of more than 10years, in addition to more than one century's records of large earthquakes, provide us with a chance to examine short-term (days to a few years) and long-term (years to decades) seismic triggering following a magnitude ~8 continental earthquake along a very long strike-slip fault, the Kunlun fault system, located in northern Tibet, China. Based on the calculations of coseismic Coulomb stress changes (ΔCFS) from the larger earthquake and post-seismic stress changes due to viscoelastic stress relaxation in the lower crust and upper mantle, we examined the temporal evolution of seismic triggering. The ETAS (epidemic type aftershocks sequence) model shows that the seismic rate in the aftershock area over ~10years was higher than the background seismicity before the mainshock. Moreover, we discuss long-term (years to decades) triggering and the evolution of stress changes for the sequence of five large earthquakes of M ≥7.0 that ruptured the Kunlun fault system since 1937. All subsequent events of M ≥7.0 occurred in the regions of positive accumulated ΔCFS. These results show that short-term (up to 200days in our case) triggering along the strike-slip Kunlun fault is governed by coseismic stress changes, while long-term triggering is somewhat due to post-seismic Coulomb stress changes resulting from viscoelastic relaxation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We use five published source models to calculate the Coulomb failure stress changes induced by the M 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake, and analyze the association between stress changes and the subsequent earthquakes. Based on the analysis of uncertainties resulting from source models, we determine the stress changes on nearby faults caused by the Wenchuan earthquake. Moreover, we focus on the seismicity rate change as a function of time on every fault under the influence of stress changes. The results indicate that the spatial distributions of aftershocks correlate well with the regions where stress is calculated to increase using the related models. The largest lobes of dropped stress lie in the west and east sides of source fault. The largest lobes of increased failure stress close to southern and northern ends of the source fault extend into the whole source failure plane. In addition, another region of increased stress lies in the Wenchuan-Yingxiu zone close to the southern segment of source fault, where a large number of aftershocks have occurred. And subsequent earthquakes seem to extend to even more remote distances; therefore, this area also has a high risk of seismic hazard. We find that the positive stress changes on nearby faults imposed by the Wenchuan earthquake produce an encouraging effect on seismicity rate. The effect is most significant on the Pengxian-Guanxian fault and Qingchuan fault, the value of seismicity rate maintains two times greater than the value before the mainshock for the next hundred years on these faults, and the time needed for the aftershock rate to recover to the pre-mainshock seismicity rate can reach up to 800-900 yr. The influence is not significant on the western Qinling fault, the Longquanshan fault, the Xianshuihe fault, the Yulongxi fault, the Anninghe fault, the Minjiang fault, and the Aba fault. Compared with the seismicity rate on these faults before the mainshock, the aftershock rate is raised by less than two times, and the time of perturbation duration is not long. The stress changes on the Fubianhe fault and Huya fault are negative, which reduce the seismicity for the next thousand years. Under the influence of stress changes caused by the Wenchuan earthquake, both Pengxian-Guanxian fault and Qingchuan fault have a high risk of earthquake occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]