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Volume 60 Supplement 5

Special Issue: Geohazards and the Role of Space-Born Observations

Assessing intraplate earthquake hazards from satellite geopotential field observations

Earth, Planets and Space volume 60, pages 487–495 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Satellite magnetic and gravity field observations provide important constraints on the poorly understood lithospheric properties of intraplate earthquakes because they map lateral long-wavelength contrasts in magnetization and density, respectively, related to petrological, structural, and thermal variations that help control the distribution of lithospheric stress. These anomalies are each a product of the vertically integrated physical property times the layer thickness. Thus, they constrain and enhance the geological utility of near-surface geopotential surveys, as well as seismic, GPS, and other geophysical observations that map the geological and dynamic properties of the lithosphere. To illustrate this synergy, we consider the influence of the US Transcontinental Magnetic Anomaly (TMA) on crustal stress and earthquake activity along the 38th parallel. In another example, we compare crustal earthquake stress constraints from gravity and seismic observations of the US mid-continent and North Andes microplate where starkly contrasting plate tectonic forces operate.

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Author notes

  1. Hyung Rae Kim

    Present address: Dept. of Geoenviron. Sci., Kongju Univ., Kongju, Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Ralph R. B. von Frese, Orlando Hernandez & Mohammad F. Asgharzadeh

  2. Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Jeong Woo Kim

  3. Department of Geoinformation Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea

    Jeong Woo Kim

  4. Geosciences Department, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

    Orlando Hernandez

  5. GEST, University of Maryland, Baltimore County at Planetary Geodynamics Lab., NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Hyung Rae Kim

Authors
  1. Ralph R. B. von Frese
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  2. Jeong Woo Kim
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  3. Orlando Hernandez
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  4. Hyung Rae Kim
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  5. Mohammad F. Asgharzadeh
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Correspondence to Hyung Rae Kim.

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von Frese, R.R.B., Kim, J.W., Hernandez, O. et al. Assessing intraplate earthquake hazards from satellite geopotential field observations. Earth Planet Sp 60, 487–495 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352815

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352815

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