Monitoring 2015 Nepal aftershocks with the deployment of a TEXAN array in southern Tibet, China

Abstract:

The Mw7.8 Nepal earthquake occurred on 4/25/2015 caused a continuous string of aftershocks, including the Mw7.3 main aftershock on 5/12/2015. The aftershocks, distributed mostly between the main shock and the main aftershock, are indicative of the structure of the main frontal thrust and associated fault system. Shortly after the Mw7.3 main aftershock, we conducted a field deployment of a 100-km-long array of 31 TEXAN miniature seismometers in southern Tibet, north of the Nepal-China boarder, from 5/20/2015 to 6/17/2015. This roughly north-south array with around 3 km in station spacing have recorded many aftershocks of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake series, including 22 aftershocks greater than M4.0, as well as over one hundred teleseismic events greater than M5.0, including the M7.8 deep earthquake in Chichi-shima, Japan and a sequence of M6.0 earthquakes in Solomon Islands. The purposes of deploying this mobile 2D array are: (1) Assessing the feasibility of deploying TEXAN seismometers in southern Tibet and the data quality; (2) Monitoring further aftershocks of the Nepal earthquake series and other events; and (3) Mapping the crustal structure beneath the array using regional and teleseismic data. It is encouraging that our first deployment has resulted in good data quality, and we are making a seismic profile beneath the 2D transect. Since the feasibility of deploying TEXAN’s in southern Tibet is proven, we plan to make further deployment of TEXAN arrays to study crustal structure in southern Tibet.