Boundary element analysis of active mountain building and stress heterogeneity proximal to the 2015 Nepal earthquake

Abstract:

The Himalayas are the tallest mountains on Earth with ten peaks exceeding 8000 meters, including Mt. Everest. The geometrically complex fault system at the Himalayan Range Front produces both great relief and great earthquakes, like the recent Mw=7.8 Nepal rupture. Here, we develop geometrically accurate elastic boundary element models of the fault system at the Himalayan Range Front including the Main Central Thrust, South Tibetan Detachment, Main Frontal Thrust, Main Boundary Thrust, the basal detachment, and surface topography. Using these models, we constrain the tectonic driving forces and frictional fault strength required to explain Quaternary fault slip rate estimates. These models provide a characterization of the heterogeneity of internal stress in the region surrounding the 2015 Nepal earthquake.