Large aftershocks triggering by Coulomb failure stress following the 2001M S=8.1 great Kunlun earthquake

• DOI: 10.1007/bf03191392
• Publication Date: 2010-09-02T04:05:35Z
• Authors: Ping Hao; Zheng-xiang Fu; Qin-jian Tian; Jie Liu; Gui-ping Liu
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences

The great Kunlun earthquake occurred on Nov. 14, 2001 in Qinghai Province, China. Five large aftershocks with magnitude larger than 5.0 occurred near the Kunlun fault after main shock. Calculations of the change in Coulomb failure stress reveal that 4 of 5 large aftershocks occurred in areas with Δσf>0 (10−2–10−1 MPa) and one aftershock occurred in an area with Δσf=−0.56 MPa. It is concluded that the permanent fault displacement due to the main shock is the main cause of activity of large aftershocks, but not the whole cause.