High Resolution Imaging of the Pedernales Earthquake Rupture Zone - Nodes

Multiscale imaging of the 2016 Pedernales megathrust earthquake rupture zone offshore northern Ecuador. Analysis of the mainshock and seismic sequence after the earthquake reveal a segmented subduction zone primarily controlled by subducted seafloor topography, accreted terranes, and inherited structure. A range of slip behavior accommodates deformation including fast earthquakes, slow slip earthquakes, earthquake swarms, and repeating earthquakes. The 2016 main shock triggered both moderate to large earthquakes and earthquakes swarms north of the mainshock rupture in the vicinity of a patch of the subduction zone that ruptured in 1958 in a Mw 7.7 earthquake and the epicenter of the 1906 Mw 8.8 earthquake. This subduction zone is believed to exhibit super cycle behavior where large magnitude great earthquakes occur in clusters on decadal time scales followed by extended periods of quiescence. In conjunction with an offshore OBS/active source experiment funded by France to the group at Geoazur we will deploy a dense array of nodes to record airgun shots to image the rupture zone of the Pedernales mainshock and structures linking to seismicity north of the mainshock. The dense array of nodes will be embedded in a coarser spaced array of broadband and intermediate period sensors that will remain in place to record seismicity for a year, complementing a similar array of OBS deployed offshore by the French.