The Mw=8.8 Maule earthquake off the coast of Chile on February 27, 2010 is the 5th largest megathrust earthquake ever to be recorded and the 2nd largest to be recorded by modern digital seismic networks. Immediately following the Maule earthquake, teams of seismologists from Germany, France, the UK, and the US, working with seismologists in Chile, coordinated resources to deploy both broadband and short period seismometers and accelerometers above the rupture zone to capture aftershocks associated with this significant earthquake. Data recorded from these stations will be combined to produce an open international community data volume providing an unprecedented opportunity to investigate processes associated with great earthquakes and to image the anatomy of a subduction zone. A defining characteristic of the Maule aftershock investigations has been collaboration, at both national and international levels. The original involvement in the data collection by US teams grew voluntarily out of the IRIS community, and the rationale of greater efficiencies through cooperation was readily adapted by the five international groups working in the region.
In this project the researchers will carry out a broad but interrelated spectrum of seismic analyses to the Maule international seismic data set, along with a reanalysis of a selection of data collected in the rupture zone prior to the earthquake, to address some of the fundamental scientific objectives that motivated the initial data collection. These objectives fall into two general categories: (1) rupture processes of megathrusts, and (2) active tectonics and dynamics of an oceanic-continental (Andean) margin. They intend to produce an internally consistent set of data products across a range of analytical techniques. The PIs will share graduate students and scheduling extended visits to each others labs, thereby exposing students to a significantly broader range of experience than most students typically enjoy. Finally, they plan to engage our international colleagues by sharing some analysis tasks of mutual interest. Data products generated by this study will be made available to the broader international community via a dedicated web site.
