Probing lower-crustal fault properties with frequency-dependent tidal tremor triggering

Abstract

The way seismicity responds to periodic stress perturbations offers crucial insights into the processes that can trigger an earthquake. Laboratory and theoretical analyses have shown that the period of imposed forcing and source properties affect the sensitivity to triggering, but frequency-dependent triggering of tectonic faults is poorly understood. The rate of low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) near Parkfield, California has been found to be strongly correlated with solid earth tides. Tidal forcing acts over multiple frequencies, and the sensitivity to tidal triggering of LFEs therefore provides a unique opportunity to probe the physics of earthquake triggering and underlying fault properties. Here, we find that the response of LFEs to solid earth tides at diurnal and semi-diurnal frequencies is highly variable but spatially coherent along the San Andreas Fault. Using rate-state friction modeling, we find that the variation of the amplitude of tidal modulation is mainly affected by the spatial variation of the background effective stress, whereas the spatially varied tidal modulation at diurnal and semi-diurnal frequencies is mainly affected by the fault frictional property and LFE nucleation time. The spatial variations of the LFE response reveal a heterogeneous lower-crustal geologic structure and complex physical faulting processes below the rupture zone of eventual great earthquakes.