Geodetic and Geologic Field Response to the January 12, 2010, Magnitude 7.0 Haiti Earthquake

2010年1月12日，7.0级地震袭击了海地，造成首都太子港严重破坏。该事件发生在Enriquillo-PlantainGarden断层带，这是一个主要断层，可容纳加勒比和北美板块之间的相对运动。在该项目中，由普渡大学、得克萨斯大学、阿肯色州大学和海地矿业和能源局的科学家组成的研究小组将绘制并精确测量断层上的位移，重新测量海地和多米尼加共和国现有的30个GPS基准点网络以确定同震变形，并在关键位置安装连续的GPS仪器以测量震后变形。该地区现有的雷达数据将用于计算同震干涉图。在现场收集的信息将被整合，以确定1月12日主震期间的同震位移，并了解地震后变形的性质和机制，这些变形将在未来几年内发生。必须在主震后尽早进行大地测量，以便捕捉震后变形的早期阶段。此外，关键是同震位移的大地测量应尽可能少地包括震后信号，因此需要在地震发生后立即进行测量。此外，必须立即绘制和量化断层位移，因为断层偏移是短暂的，通常会在人们开始修复道路、围栏和其他偏移应变标记时迅速消失。该项目是一个前所未有的机会，可以在类似于最近没有经历过此类事件的其他板块边界的构造环境中研究大型、浅焦点走滑事件，比如圣安德烈亚斯断层系统事实上，这一事件的震后反应的特别详细的研究可能被证明是最有益的，因为Enriquillo-Plantain Garden断层带穿过伊斯帕尼奥拉岛较厚的大陆地壳和较薄的海洋地壳向西朝着牙买加。由于1月12日事件的库仑应力变化已经加载了破裂的两端，这项工作将有助于确定其他大地震可能沿着该断层系统即将发生的可能性。该项目由NSF地球科学部构造和地球物理学计划以及NSF国际科学与工程办公室支持。

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, causing intense damage in the capital Port-au-Prince. The event occurred on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone one of the main faults that accommodates the relative motion between the Caribbean and North American plates. In this project, a research team composed of scientists from Purdue University, University of Texas, University of Arkansas, and the Haitian Bureau of Mines and Energy will map and precisely measure the displacement on the fault, re-measure an existing network of 30 GPS benchmarks in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to determine co-seismic deformation, and install continuous GPS instruments in key locations to measure post-seismic deformation. Available radar data for the area will be used to compute co-seismic interferograms. The information gathered in the field will be integrated to determine the co-seismic displacement during the main shock of January 12 and to understand the nature and mechanism of the post-seismic deformation that will follow this event for some years in the future. Geodetic measurements must be done as early as possible after the main shock in order to capture the early phases of post-seismic deformation. Also, it is key that geodetic measurements for co-seismic displacements include as little post-seismic signal as possible, hence requiring a survey very soon after the event. In addition, mapping and quantifying fault displacement must be done immediately because fault offsets are ephemeral and typically disappear quickly as the people begin to repair roads, fences, and other offset strain markers.This project is an unprecedented opportunity to study a large, shallow-focus strike-slip event in a tectonic environment similar to other plate boundaries that have not recently experienced such an event, such as the San Andreas Fault system. Indeed, this particular detailed study of the post-seismic response of this event may prove most beneficial as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone crosses thicker continental crust in Hispaniola and thinner ocean crust to the west toward Jamaica. Because Coulomb stress changes from the January 12 event have loaded both extremities of the rupture this work will help define the likelihood that other large earthquakes may be impending along that fault system. The project is supported by the NSF Earth Sciences Division Tectonics and Geophysics Programs and the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.