GPS measurements of postseismic deformation in the Andaman-Nicobar region following the giant 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

Abstract

We report GPS measurements of postseismic deformation from 22 campaign‐mode and one continuous GPS sites in the Andaman‐Nicobar region following the great Sumatra‐Andaman earthquake of 26 December 2004. Large horizontal displacements toward west to southwest, varying in magnitude from 10 to 40 cm, and with uplift reaching 16 cm, occurred in the region in the first year after the earthquake. The observed motion decreased logarithmically in the subsequent year. We suggest that in the Andaman region, frictional afterslip occurred farther downdip of the coseismic rupture, while in the Little Andaman and Nicobar regions, the coseismic rupture and afterslip patch partly overlapped. The afterslip was mostly aseismic and did not contribute to the aftershocks. The aftershocks and postseismic displacements appear to follow a similar relationship, although with different decay times. The temporal dependence of the two differs only by a term linear in time. Thus the temporal evolution of the afterslip seems to be consistent with a mechanism governed by frictional afterslip. Available rates of interseismic and postseismic deformation and coseismic static offsets allow us to approximately estimate a return period of about 400 years for great earthquakes in the Andaman region.