TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Anatomy of strike-slip fault tsunami genesis JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America A1 - Elbanna, Ahmed A1 - Abdelmeguid, Mohamed A1 - Ma, Xiao A1 - Amlani, Faisal A1 - Bhat, Harsha S. A1 - Synolakis, Costas A1 - Rosakis, Ares J. SP - e2025632118 EP - e2025632118 VL - 118 IS - 19 N2 - Tsunami generation from earthquake-induced seafloor deformations has long been recognized as a major hazard to coastal areas. Strike-slip faulting has generally been considered insufficient for triggering large tsunamis, except through the generation of submarine landslides. Herein, we demonstrate that ground motions due to strike-slip earthquakes can contribute to the generation of large tsunamis (>1 m), under rather generic conditions. To this end, we developed a computational framework that integrates models for earthquake rupture dynamics with models of tsunami generation and propagation. The three-dimensional time-dependent vertical and horizontal ground motions from spontaneous dynamic rupture models are used to drive boundary motions in the tsunami model. Our results suggest that supershear ruptures propagating along strike-slip faults, traversing narrow and shallow bays, are prime candidates for tsunami generation. We show that dynamic focusing and the large horizontal displacements, characteristic of strike-slip earthquakes on long faults, are critical drivers for the tsunami hazard. These findings point to intrinsic mechanisms for sizable tsunami generation by strike-slip faulting, which do not require complex seismic sources, landslides, or complicated bathymetry. Furthermore, our model identifies three distinct phases in the tsunamic motion, an instantaneous dynamic phase, a lagging coseismic phase, and a postseismic phase, each of which may affect coastal areas differently. We conclude that near-source tsunami hazards and risk from strike-slip faulting need to be re-evaluated.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0027-8424 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025632118 ID - ref1 ER -