@article{ref1,
title="Constant strain accumulation rate between major earthquakes on the North Anatolian Fault",
journal="Nature communications",
year="2018",
author="Hussain, Ekbal and Wright, Tim J. and Walters, Richard J. and Bekaert, David P. S. and Lloyd, Ryan and Hooper, Andrew",
volume="9",
number="1",
pages="1392-1392",
abstract="Earthquakes are caused by the release of tectonic strain accumulated between events. Recent advances in satellite geodesy mean we can now measure this interseismic strain accumulation with a high degree of accuracy. But it remains unclear how to interpret short-term geodetic observations, measured over decades, when estimating the seismic hazard of faults accumulating strain over centuries. Here, we show that strain accumulation rates calculated from geodetic measurements around a major transform fault are constant for its entire 250-year interseismic period, except in the ~10 years following an earthquake. The shear strain rate history requires a weak fault zone embedded within a strong lower crust with viscosity greater than ~10<sup>20</sup> Pa s. The results support the notion that short-term geodetic observations can directly contribute to long-term seismic hazard assessment and suggest that lower-crustal viscosities derived from postseismic studies are not representative of the lower crust at all spatial and temporal scales.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2041-1723",
doi="10.1038/s41467-018-03739-2",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03739-2"
}