Craig, T. orcid.org/0000-0003-2198-9172 and Hull, A. (2024) Extensional failure in a weak slab under slab pull -- the 2023 Mw 6.4 Quiché, Guatemala, earthquake. Seismica, 3 (1). ISSN 2816-9387
Abstract
The 2023 Mw 6.4 Quiché earthquake is the deepest recorded major (Mw > 6) earthquake to have occurred in the Cocos slab beneath Central America, at a depth of ~ 255 km. Here, we refine the source parameters of both the Quiché earthquake, and the only other event at comparable depths (the 1997 Mw 5.5 Jutiapa earthquake), confirming both their exceptional depth within the downgoing slab, and their down-dip extensional mechanism. That the Cocos slab remains capable of hosting major intraslab earthquakes, with mechanisms consistent with down-dip extension, near, or at, the tip of the contiguous slab, suggests that the slab itself is weak, such that the minimal stresses derived from supporting the negative buoyancy of the short section of slab down-dip from this earthquake are still sufficient to lead to brittle failure of the slab.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 Timothy Craig, Amber Hull. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Earthquake Location, intermediate depth earthquake, Subduction Zone, geodynamics |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Royal Society URF\R\231019 Royal Society URF\R1\180088 Royal Society RGF\EA\181084 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Apr 2024 09:16 |
Last Modified: | 29 Jul 2024 14:06 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Seismica |
Identification Number: | 10.26443/seismica.v3i1.1190 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:210991 |