Lineament analysis as a seismic precursor: The El Mayor Cucapah earthquake of April 4, 2010 (MW7.2), Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

An earthquake called the M_W7.2 “El Mayor Cucapah” earthquake on April 4, 2010 has been analyzed for seismic precursor. The changes in the lineament system concerning its pattern and time intervals were analyzed during the earthquake preparation period and occurrence using the automated lineament detection method. The Landsat 5 TM images were processed using LESSA and ADALGEO software obtaining similar results. The statistical analysis revealed the stress accumulation due to plate interaction during earthquake formation. The study shows that the number of extracted lineaments changes rapidly about 23 months before the earthquake, and the systems return to the initial stage after 23 months. Most lineaments coincide with the extension of the San Andreas Fault as NW direction is the dominant trend. Thus, it can be concluded that the featural changes within the Rose diagram corresponding to the different strokes direction along with oriented elongation lines as disclosed in the present study using satellite images could be identified as a mid-term and/or short-term precursors of the earthquake. However, even though the dynamism of the El Mayor Cucapah earthquake is found in the extracted lineaments, it is possible to isolate more significant earthquakes even if new ones appear near the zone. Moreover, using two algorithms for lineament detection allows for the tectonics to corroborate the obtained lineaments and dynamism.