Skip to main content
Earth, Planets and Space
Download PDF

The March 25, 1998 Antarctic Earthquake: Great earthquake caused by postglacial rebound

Earth, Planets and Space volume 52, pages 133–136 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

A large Mw = 8.1 earthquake occurred off southeast coast of Antarctica near the Balleny Island region on March 25, 1998. We inverted teleseismic body-wave records to determine the rupture pattern using an iterative deconvolution method. The source parameters obtained are: the centroid depth=20km, (strike, dip, rake)= (282, 83, −1), the seismic moment M0 = 1.6 × 1021 Nm (Mw = 8.1), the length L = 200 km, and the average slip D = 4.4 m. This earthquake occurred in the mid-plate but there has been no reports of such large earthquakes in this region. Furthermore, the source mechanism cannot be related to the plate motion inferred from the nearby transform faults. Therefore this earthquake is not a usual tectonic event. Here we show that the compressional axis of our source mechanism coincides with the horizontal crustal motion predicted by the Earth’s response to present-day and past ice mass changes in Antarctica. Our result suggests that the 1998 Antarctica earthquake is caused by the postglacial rebound in the Antarctica.

References

  • Arvidsson, R., Fennoscandian earthquakes: Whole crustal rupturing related to postglacial rebound, Science, 274, 744–746, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denton, G. H. and T. J. Hughes, The Last Great Ice Sheets, 484 pp., John Wiley & sons, New York, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denton, G. H., M. L. Prentice, and L. H. Burckle, Cainozoic history of the Antarctic ice sheet, in Geology of Antarctica, edited by R. J. Tingey, pp. 365–433, Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dziewonski, A. M., T. -A. Chou, and J. H. Woodhouse, Determination of earthquake source parameters from waveform data for studies of global and regional seismicity, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 2825–2852, 1981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, A. G. and P. E. Malin, Possible triggering of Heinrich events by ice-load-induced earthquakes, Nature, 393, 155–158, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, T. S. and E. R. Ivins, Present-day Antarctic ice mass changes and crustal motion, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 973–976, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, T. S. and E. R. Ivins, Predictions of Antarctic crustal motions driven by present-day ice sheet evolution and by isostatic memory of the Last Glacial Maximum, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 4993–5017, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, A. C., A wave in the Earth, Science, 274, 735, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaminuma, K., Seismic activity in and around the Antarctic continent, Terra Antartica, 1, 423–426. 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaminuma, K. and J. Akamatsu, Intermittent micro-seismic activity in the vicinity of Syowa station, east Antarctica, in Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science, edited by Y. Yoshida et al., pp. 493–497, Terrapub, 1992.

  • Kawakatsu, H., Automated near-realtime CMT inversion, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 2569–2572, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kikuchi, M. and H. Kanamori, Inversion of complex body waves-III, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 81, 2335–2350, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kikuchi, M. and H. Kanamori, The Shikotan earthquake of October 4, 1994: Lithospheric earthquake, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 1025–1028, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, S., S. Cloetingh, N. H. Sleep, and R. Wortel, Passive margin earthquakes, stresses, and rheology, in Earthquakes at North-Atlantic passive margins, edited by S. Gregersen and P. W. Basham, pp. 231–259, Kluwer Academic Publishers, the Netherlands, 1989.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wahr, J. H., H. DaZhong, and A. Trupin, Predictions ofvertical uplift caused by changing polar ice volumesona viscoelastic earth, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 977–980, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens, D., M. E. Wysession, and L. Lawver, Recent oceanic intraplate earthquake in Balleny Sea was largest ever detected, Eos Trans. AGU, 79(30), 353–354, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoscience, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Japan

    Seiji Tsuboi

  2. Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Masayuki Kikuchi & Yoshiko Yamanaka

  3. National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan

    Masaki Kanao

Authors
  1. Seiji Tsuboi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Masayuki Kikuchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yoshiko Yamanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Masaki Kanao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seiji Tsuboi.

Additional information

Now at Faculty of Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tsuboi, S., Kikuchi, M., Yamanaka, Y. et al. The March 25, 1998 Antarctic Earthquake: Great earthquake caused by postglacial rebound. Earth Planet Sp 52, 133–136 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351621

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351621

Keywords