TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pro, C.
A1  - Buforn, Elisa
A1  - Cesca, Simone
A1  - Sanz de Galdeano, C.
A1  - Udias, A.
T1  - Rupture process of the Lorca (southeast Spain) 11 May 2011 (M (w)=5.1) earthquake
JF  - Journal of seismology
N2  - On 11 May 2011, a M (w) = 5.1 earthquake shook the town of Lorca (SE Spain) causing a disproportionately large damage for its magnitude. In order to contribute to knowledge of the behavior of the active faults present in the region and define the parameters which control their motion, we made a detailed study of the rupture process of this earthquake from inversion of body waves at regional and teleseismic distances. Ground motion displacements obtained in this way are in agreement with near-field strong motion data and GPS observations recorded in Lorca. We have obtained a partly bilateral rupture propagating to WSW (238A degrees, 54A degrees, 59A degrees) with 27 cm of maximum slip and shallow focus (4 km). The fault plane orientation corresponds to that of the Cejo de los Enamorados Fault located NE of the Lorca town and parallel to the Alhama de Murcia Fault. The distribution of slip on the fault plane can explain the lack of any observed surface rupture as we found that the rupture started at 4-km depth along a plane dipping at 54A degrees, with motion propagating upward to stop at 1.5 km below the surface. The strong motion and GPS data recorded near the epicenter are in agreement with the maximum slip on the fault. Directivity effects and the extreme shallowness of the rupture could explain the considerable damage that the earthquake caused in the town of Lorca.
KW  - Seismic slip distribution
KW  - Directivity
KW  - Ground motion and GPS
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-014-9421-8
SN  - 1383-4649
SN  - 1573-157X
VL  - 18
IS  - 3
SP  - 481
EP  - 495
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  -