Laboratory experiments of slow slip as a nucleation process of a giant rupture event

Abstract:

The question of whether slow slip terminates as a single event or it triggers fast rupture is one of the most important problems in science of slow earthquakes. In this study, we conducted laboratory experiments by using compliant gels as analogue materials and observed nucleation behavior for a giant rupture event. We found that, a slow nucleation process grows in oscillatory manner (i.e., slow slip accompanies tremor) and its duration is inversely proportional to the one-third of the driving velocity. In this presentation, we will discuss the relationship between the slow slip behavior and the frictional constitutive laws of gels by applying numerical simulations.

References

[1] T. Fukudome, M. Otsuki, P. A. Selvadurai, Y. Sawae, T. Yamaguchi, In preparation.