Spatial distribution and focal mechanism solutions of the Wenchuan earthquake series: Results and implications

We relocate the spatial distribution of the devastating 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and its aftershocks. The relocation database is obtained from 89 stations deployed by the China Earthquake Administration, including 54 525 seismograms from 1 376 local earthquakes over <i<M</i<<sub<S</sub< 3.5 between 12 May 2008 and 3 August 2008. The cross-correlation technique used in this paper has greatly improved the relocation precision by giving much more accurate P-wave differential travel-time measurements than those obtained from routinely picked phase onsets. At the same time, we pick P-wave polarity observations of the Wenchuan earthquake series (hereafter referred to as WES) from 1 023 stations in China and 59 IRIS (incorporated Research Institutions of Seismology) stations. Then, employing a newly developed program CHNYTX, we obtain 83 well-determined focal mechanism solutions (hereafter referred to as FMSs). Based on spatial distribution and FMSs of the WES, we draw following conclusions: (1) The region near the main shock exhibits a buried low-angle northwest-dipping seismic zone with the main shock at its upper end and two conjugated seismic zones dipping southeast with roughly equal dip-angle; (2) The compressional directions of all kinds of FMSs of the WES are subhorizontal, which reflects the dominant stress in this area is compressional; (3) The principal compressional direction of the regional stress around Wenchuan is roughly perpendicular to the strike of Beichuan-Yingxiu fault, while around Qingchuan it is roughly parallel to the strike of Qingchuan fault. In intermediate part of the Longmenshan area, the principal compressional direction of the stress should be in-between; (4) The possibly existed molten materials in the lower crust of Songpan-Garze terrain have small contribution to the local stress state in Longmenshan area. The listric geometries of the Longmenshan faults most probably resulted from subhorizontal compression along NW-SE direction in history.