A creeping and surface breaking long strike-slipfault inclined to the vertical in a viscoelastic half space

Abstract

An asoismically creeping surface-breaking strike-slip fault inclined to the vertical at an arbitrary angle, situated in a simple model of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system consisting of a visoelastic half space is considered. The exact solutions for displacements, stresses and strains In the model are obtained. Computed results show that the inclination of the fault has a significant influence on the values of the displacements, stresses and strains. The rate of accumulation of shear stress tending to cause strike-slip movement has been found to be greatest for vertical strike-slip fault, while for faults inclined at smaller angles to the horizontal, this rate is significantly smaller. The uses of such theoretical models in obtaining greater insight into the earthquake processes in seismically active regions and their relations to the dynamics of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system are examined.