Seismology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article | 13 November 2014

  Seismic reflection data support episodic and simultaneous growth of the Tibetan Plateau since 25 Myr

  How the Tibetan Plateau arrived at its present size and elevation remains a topic of debate. Here, the authors use drill-hole and seismic data from the Tarim basin and conclude that plateau extension was episodic and synchronous along eastern and northern margins, likely occurring via brittle thickening of the upper crust.

  • Xiao-Dian Jiang
  •  & Zheng-Xiang Li

• Article | 02 June 2014

  Evidence for a difference in rupture initiation between small and large earthquakes

  Being able to predict the final size of an earthquake while rupture is ongoing is a largely debated scientific problem. Here, the authors suggest that the evolution of P-wave peak displacement holds information regarding the early stage of the rupture process and may be a proxy for the final size of the event.

  • S. Colombelli
  • , A. Zollo
  •  & M. Picozzi

• Article | 16 January 2014

  Helium anomalies suggest a fluid pathway from mantle to trench during the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake

  The behaviour of fluids along fault planes is not well defined, despite geophysical evidence that they play an important role in earthquake generation. Here, Sano et al.present helium anomaly data and suggest that fluid flowed from the mantle to the trench during the magnitude 9 Tohoku-Oki earthquake.

  • Yuji Sano
  • , Takahiro Hara
  •  & Keiko Hattori

• Article | 15 October 2013

  Source time function properties indicate a strain drop independent of earthquake depth and magnitude

  Earthquakes occur on a broad range of depths and magnitudes, making their origins and impacts difficult to assess. Here, the analysis of 1,700 earthquakes reveals that strain drop is globally invariant, providing constraints on the rupture process and simplifying the task of earthquake damage predictions.

  • Martin Vallée

• Article
  03 July 2013 | Open Access

  Rapid changes in the electrical state of the 1999 Izmit earthquake rupture zone

  Low-resistivity crustal fluids occur near fault zones, but their relation to earthquake generation is unclear. Here, electromagnetic data from the Izmit earthquake reflects the pressure-induced transition between isolated and interconnected fluids that is linked to foreshocks before large earthquakes.

  • Yoshimori Honkura
  • , Naoto Oshiman
  •  & Elif Tolak Çiftçi

• Article | 18 June 2013

  An earthquake gap south of Istanbul

  The North Anatolian Fault Zone in Turkey has produced many large earthquakes, however the Marmara region has been inactive and is facing a high probability for a large earthquake. Here, Bohnhoff et al. report on a large seismicity gap in this area with implications for a seismic hazard for Istanbul.

  • Marco Bohnhoff
  • , Fatih Bulut
  •  & Mustafa Aktar

• Article | 09 April 2013

  Seismic detection of increased degassing before Kīlauea's 2008 summit explosion

  The onset of the ongoing summit eruption at Kilauea Volcano was associated with changes in seismic anisotropy and increased gas flux. This study shows that seismic anisotropy variations are also a function of alterations in stress conditions, and provides a new method for tracking gas flux using seismic observations.

  • Jessica H. Johnson
  •  & Michael P. Poland