Upper crustal anisotropy observed around the Longmenshan fault in the 2013 M_S7.0 Lushan earthquake region

Based on the shear wave splitting analysis of the seismic recordings at 17 temporary stations and three permanent stations, we measured the shear wave splitting parameters (i.e., the polarization direction of fast shear wave and the time delay of slow wave) to perform a systematic analysis of the crustal seismic anisotropy around the Longmenshan fault in the 2013 M_S7.0 Lushan earthquake region. We observed apparent spatio-temporal characteristics in the shear wave splitting parameters. The spatial distribution of fast polarization directions showed a clear partitioning in the characteristics from northwest to southeast in the focal region, which changed from NW-SE to NE-SW. In the northwest of the focal region, the fast polarization direction was oriented to NW-SE, which was parallel to the maximum horizontal compressive stress direction. However, the NE-SW fast polarization direction in the southeast of the focal region was parallel to the Longmenshan fault strike. For station BAX on the Central fault in the middle of the focal region, the distribution of fast polarization directions showed a bimodal pattern, with one dominant in the NE-SW direction and the other in the NW-SE direction. With regard to the temporal variation, the time delays were large in the initial stage after the mainshock but then gradually decreased over time and tended to be stable in the later period. This indicated that stress in the focal region increased to a maximum when the main shock occurred, with the stress release caused by the mainshock and aftershock activity, and the stress gradually decreased after a period of time. The scatter of fast polarization directions was large after the main shock, but over time the scatter gradually decreased, indicating that the Lushan earthquake caused a large perturbation in the local stress field. As the stress gradually decreased and was adjusted by the aftershock activity, the perturbation gradually weakened.