The April 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes: Seismotectonic context and implications for their mechanisms

Andrade, Vanessa and Rajendran, Kusala (2014) The April 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes: Seismotectonic context and implications for their mechanisms. In: TECTONOPHYSICS, 617 . pp. 126-139.

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Abstract

The 11 April 2012 earthquakes (M-w 8.6 and M-w 8.2) were sourced within the Northern Wharton Basin in the northeastern part of the Indo-Australian diffuse plate boundary. This unusually active oceanic intraplate region has generated many large earthquakes in the past, most of which are believed to have occurred by strike-slip motion, triggered by the NW-SE oriented compressional stresses acting across the Indian and Australian plates. In the aftermath of the 2004 megathrust earthquake along the nearby Sunda Trench, increased seismicity in the Northern Wharton Basin is attributed to the stress transfer from the Sumatra-Andaman plate boundary. Models proposed for the April 2012 earthquakes differ somewhat in details but partly attribute their complex rupture to the reactivation of pre-existing structures. These structures include previously mapped N-S trending fracture zones within the Northern Wharton Basin and E-W lineations across the Ninetyeast Ridge. In this paper, we review the regional tectonics and past seismicity on the Indo-Australian Plate in order to understand the seismotectonic setting of the April 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	TECTONOPHYSICS
Publisher:	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to the ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, NETHERLANDS
Keywords:	2012 earthquakes; Oceanic intraplate earthquakes; Ninetyeast Ridge; Indian Ocean; Northern Wharton Basin
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Earth Sciences
Date Deposited:	19 May 2014 05:29
Last Modified:	19 May 2014 05:29
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/49102

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