Coseismic deformation field derived from Sentinel-1A data and slip inversion of the 2015 Chile Mw8.3 earthquake

Abstract. We obtain the coseismic surface deformation fields caused by the Chile Mw8.3 earthquake on 16 September 2015 through analyzing Sentinel-1A/IW InSAR data from ascending and descending tracks. The results show that the main deformation field looks like a half circle convex to east with maximum coseismic displacement of about 1.33 m in descending LOS direction, 1.32 m in ascending LOS direction. Based on an elastic dislocation model in a homogeneous elastic half space, we construct a small-dip single plane fault model and invert the coseismic fault slip using ascending and descending Sentinel-1A/IW data separately and jointly. The results show that the patterns of the main slip region are similar in all datasets, but the scale of slip from ascending inversion is relatively smaller. Joint inversion can display comprehensive fault slip. The seismic moment magnitude from the joint inversion is Mw8.25, the rupture length along strike is about 340 km with a maximum slip of 8.16 m near the trench located at –31.04 N, –72.49 E, and the coseismic slip mainly concentrates at shallow depth above the hypocenter with a symmetry shape. The depth where coseismic slip is near zero appears to a depth of 50 km, quantitatively indicating the down-dip limit of the seismogenic zone. From the calculated coseismic Coulomb stress change, we find aftershocks locations correlate well with the areas having increased Coulomb stress and most areas with increased Coulomb stress appeared beneath the main shock fault plane.