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Primary surface rupture associated with the Mw 7.1 16 October 1999 Hector Mine earthquake, San Bernardino County, California

January 1, 2002

The Mw 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake occurred within the Mojave Desert portion of the eastern California shear zone and was accompanied by 48 km of dextral surface rupture. Complex northward rupture began on two branches of the Lavic Lake fault in the northern Bullion Mountains and also propagated southward onto the Bullion fault. Lesser amounts of rupture occurred across two right steps to the south. Surface rupture was mapped using postearthquake, 1:10,000-scale aerial photography. Field mapping provided additional detail and more than 400 fault-rupture observations; of these, approximately 300 measurements were used to characterize the slip distribution. En echelon surface rupture predominated in areas of thick alluvium, whereas in the bedrock areas, rupture was more continuous and focused within a narrower zone. Measured dextral offsets were relatively symmetrical about the epicentral region, with a maximum displacement of 5.25 ?? 0.85 m. Vertical slip was a secondary component and was variable, with minor west-side-down displacements predominat.ing in the Bullion Mountains. Field and aerial photographic evidence indicates that most of the faults that ruptured in 1999 had had prior late-Quaternary displacement, although only limited sections of the rupture show evidence for prior Holocene displacement.

Publication Year 2002
Title Primary surface rupture associated with the Mw 7.1 16 October 1999 Hector Mine earthquake, San Bernardino County, California
DOI 10.1785/0120000923
Authors J.A. Treiman, K.J. Kendrick, W. A. Bryant, T. K. Rockwell, S.F. McGill
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Index ID 70024799
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
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