Chapter 1 Introduction: Fault-Zone Properties and Earthquake Rupture Dynamics

Publisher Summary This chapter introduces the book on fault-zone properties and earthquake rupture dynamics. Research on earthquake faulting and rupture dynamics has developed together with earthquake prediction research programs. In the 1970s and 1980s, one of the main research targets in seismology was to predict the occurrence of large earthquakes, which was considered feasible if very dense and accurate observations were conducted. One of the chapters precisely describes the macroscopic fault slip of the 2001 Kunlun, Tibet, earthquake based on the satellite image analysis with field observations. Coseismic surface ruptures are recognized as distinct shear faults, echelon extensional cracks, and mole tracks within the width of a few meters to a half-kilometer and extending the length of 450 km. Another chapter discusses the characteristic feature of the subduction plate boundary of erosive and accretionary margins in relation to the seismic-aseismic transition. It reviews the subduction process that relates to the seismogenesis in various aspects. It demonstrates that the seismic-aseismic transition is not the smectite-illite cray mineral transformation but the behavior of fluid at depth.