Rupture directivity of the 25 October 2022 Mw 5.1 Alum Rock earthquake

The 25 October 2022 M_w 5.1 Alum Rock earthquake shows strong evidence for southeast rupture directivity along the central Calaveras fault (CCF), as indicated by observed ground motions and simulated kinematic ruptures. Peak ground accelerations (PGAs) and peak ground velocities (PGVs) are notably higher to the southeast, with an order of magnitude difference for stations at the same distance but different azimuths. In addition, PGAs are lower than that predicted by ground‐motion models by a factor of 3 on average in all the directions, indicating a low stress drop (∼1.57 MPa). Directivity function modeling and ground‐motion simulations both indicate rupture propagation to the southeast with rupture velocity between 2.3 and 2.5 km/s. We suggest that the southward rupture propagation and relatively low stress drop may be typical of M ∼5 earthquakes on this portion of the CCF.