Detecting transient strain along the Haiyuan fault, China – X-STRAIN

Continuous improvement of seismological and geodetic instruments is the key for unraveling the physics of earthquakes. Since the 2000’s, the maturity of dense geodetic networks and satellite observations has revealed the complex interplay between slow fault slip and devastating earthquakes. Our understanding of the behavior of active faults is now limited by the detection capabilities of current geodetic methods. Strainmeters led to the early discovery of transient creep on continental faults that remained invisible beforehand. However, these detections were made by one or two instruments, leading to unreliable interpretations in term of slip location and fault physics. Because these instruments do not measure the full strain tensor, we aim will use a new optical strainmeter measuring the 6 strain tensor components. Together with GPS instruments, INSAR observations and seismometer, these strainmeters will be deployed along the Haiyuan fault in mainland China.