2016 Kaikura Earthquake Tsunami Simulation from Point and Finite Fault Source Models

Abstract

In this study, The numerical simulations of November 13, 2016 Kaikoura, New Zealand eaerthquake (M_w: 7.8) have been performed. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 15 km at the transition between the Alpine fault in the South Island and the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone. The approximation of non-linear long wave equations is performed and adopted to simulate tsunami propagations with an initial displacement of the ocean bottom deformation due to faulting. Co-seismic source models proposed by United States Geological Survey (USGS) are further used to represent the effects of various slip models on tsunami prediction along the coastal regions of New Zealand. The maximum value of the initial heights are calculated as 1.18 and -0.2 meters for uplift and subsidence areas from uni-form point source models. However, these maximum values are 1.01 and -0.1 meters from finite-fault source models. We have also compared our simulated tsunami waveforms with the observed tide gauge records. The results show that non-uniform slip models could be more effective in prediction of the tsunami heights compared to uniform slip models where the earthquakes involve complex rupures as in Kaikoura earthquake.   

Keywords

• Finite fault,point source,fault parameters,tsunami simulation,tide gauges

References

1. Annunziato A (2007) The Tsunamı Assesment Modelling System by the Joint Research Center. Sci. Tsu. Hazards. 26: 70–92.
2. Annunziato A, Ulutas E, Titov VV (2009) Tsunami model study using JRC-SWAN and NOAA-SIFT forecast methods. In: International Symposium on Historical Earthquakes and Conservation of Monuments and Sites in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 500th Anniversary Year of the 1509, Book of Proceedings, Istanbul, pp. 131–141.
3. ESRI (2010) ArcGIS Desktop: Release 10. Environmental Systems Research Institute. Redlands, CA.
4. Furlong KP (2007). Locating the depth extent of the plate boundary along the Alpine Fault zone, New Zealand: Implıcations for patterns of exhumation in the Southern Alps, The Geological Society of America, Special paper. 434, 1-15.
5. General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans–British Oceanographic Data Centre (GEBCO–BODC) (2012) https://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/online_delivery/gebco/ gebco_08_grid/ (accessed in 2016).
6. Kikuchi M, Kanamori H, (1982) Inversion of complex body waves. Bulletin of the Selsmologmal Society of America 72 (2): 491–506.
7. Lorito S, Tiberti MM, Basili R, Piatanesi A, Valensis G (2008) Earthquake-generated tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea: scenarios of potential threats to Southern Italy. Journal of Geophysical Research 113, B01301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007JB004943.
8. Mader C (1988). Numerical Modeling of water waves, University of California Press, Berkeley, California, p.206, 1988.

9. Mader C (2001) Modelling the Lisbon Tsunami. Science of Tsunami Hazards. 19, 93–116.
10. National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) (2007) Recent and significant tsunami events.http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/recenttsunamis.shtml (accessed in 2017).
11. Okada Y (1985) Surface deformation due to shear and tensile faults in a half-space. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 75, 1135–1154.
12. Ulutas E (2011) Tsunami simulation of the October 25, 2010, South Pagai Island, Sumatra earthquake. International Journal of Physical Sciences. 6, 459–475.
13. Ulutas E, Inan A, Annunziato A (2012) Web-based tsunami early warning system: a case study of the 2010 Kepulaunan Mentawai earthquake and tsunami. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 12: 1855–1871. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.5194/nhess-12-1855-2012.
14. Yalciner AC, Pelinovsky E, Talipove T, Kurkin A, Kozelkov A, Zaitsev A (2004) Tsunamis in the Black Sea: comparison of the historical, instrumental, and numerical data. Journal of Geophysical Research 109,C12023.United States Geological Survey (USGS)(2016). Earthquake Hazards Program. Global CMT Project Moment Tensor Solution. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ eventpage/us1000778i#moment-tensor/ (erişim tarihi: 2016).
15. Piatanesi A, Tinti S, Pagnoni G (2001) Tsunami waveform inversion by numericalfinite-elements Green’s functions. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 1,187–194.
16. Ulutas E (2011). Tsunami simulation of the October 25, 2010, South Pagai Island, Sumatra earthquake. International Journal of Physical Sciences 6, 459–475.
17. Ulutas E, Inan A, Annunziato A (2012) Web-based tsunami early warning system: a case study of the 2010 Kepulaunan Mentawai earthquake and tsunami. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 12, 1855–1871. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-12-1855-2012.
18. Ulutas E (2013) Comparison of the seafloor displacement from uniform and non-uniform slip models on tsunami simulation of the 2011 Tohoku–Oki earthquake. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 62, 568-585, doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2012.11.007.
19. Wells DL, Coppersmith KJ (1994) New empirical relationships among magnitude, rupture length, rupture width, rupture area, and surface displacement. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 84 (4), 974-1002.
20. Yolsal S, Taymaz T, Yalçıner AC (2007) Understanding tsunamis, potential source regions and tsunami prone mechanisms in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Geodynamics of the Aegean and Anatolia, Special Publication: Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 291: 201–230.
21. Yolsal S, Taymaz, T (2010). Sensitivity analysis on relations between earthquake rupture parameters and far-field tsunami waves: Case studies in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences 19, 313–349.
22. United States Geological Survey (USGS) (2016a) Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake details, M 7.8 - 54km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand.< https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000778i#executive/> (accessed in 2016).
23. United States Geological Survey (USGS) (2016b) Earthquake Hazards Program, Moment Tensor, M 7.8 - 54km NNE of Amberley, New Zealandhttps://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000778i#moment-tensor/> (accessed in 2016).
24. United States Geological Survey (USGS) (2016c) Earthquake Hazards Program, Preliminary Finite Fault Results for the Nov 13, 2016 Mw 7.9 New Zealand >https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000778i#finite-fault<, accessed in 2016).