Quasi-static strains and tilts due to faulting in a viscoelastic half-space

Abstract

Recently derived quasi-static surface displacements resulting from a finite rectangular vertical strike-slip fault in a viscoelastic half-space are used to derive the surface strains and tilts for both Voigt and Maxwell viscoelastic models. Contour maps are obtained for various strain and tilt components. The variation with time and epicentral distance is studied in some representative cases. Detailed numerical calculations reveal significant differences between the viscoelastic and the elastic results in the case of a vertical strike-slip fault. This contrasts with the results for a vertical dip-slip fault in a uniform half-space, where the surface strains and tilts for the viscoelastic and the elastic models are identical.