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Abstract Fault‐damage zones comprise multiscale fracture networks that may slip dynamically and interact with the main fault during earthquake rupture. Using 3D dynamic rupture simulations and scale‐dependent fracture energy, we examine dynamic interactions of more than 800 intersecting multiscale fractures surrounding a listric fault, emulating a major listric fault and its damage zone. We investigate 10 distinct orientations of maximum horizontal stress, probing the conditions necessary for sustained slip within the fracture network or activating the main fault. Additionally, we assess the feasibility of nucleating dynamic rupture earthquake cascades from a distant fracture and investigate the sensitivity of fracture network cascading rupture to the effective normal stress level. We model either pure cascades or main fault rupture with limited off‐fault slip. We find that cascading ruptures within the fracture network are dynamically feasible under certain conditions, including: (a) the fracture energy scales with fracture and fault size, (b) favorable relative pre‐stress of fractures within the ambient stress field, and (c) close proximity of fractures. We find that cascading rupture within the fracture network discourages rupture on the main fault. Our simulations suggest that fractures with favorable relative pre‐stress, embedded within a fault damage zone, may lead to cascading earthquake rupture that shadows main fault slip. We find that such off‐fault events may reach moment magnitudes up toMw ≈ 5.5, comparable to magnitudes that can be otherwise hosted by the main fault. Our findings offer insights into physical processes governing cascading earthquake dynamic rupture within multiscale fracture networks.
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This content will become publicly available on June 6, 2026
Ground-Motion Characteristics of Cascading Earthquakes in a Multiscale Fracture Network
ABSTRACT Fault zones exhibit geometrical complexity and are often surrounded by multiscale fracture networks within their damage zones, potentially influencing rupture dynamics and near-field ground motions. In this study, we investigate the ground-motion characteristics of cascading ruptures across damage zone fracture networks of moderate-size earthquakes (Mw 5.5–6.0) using high-resolution 3D dynamic rupture simulations. Our models feature a listric normal fault surrounded by more than 800 fractures, emulating a major fault and its associated damage zone. We analyze three cases: a cascading rupture propagating within the fracture network (Mw 5.5), a non-cascading main-fault rupture with off-fault fracture slip (Mw 6.0), and a main-fault rupture without a fracture network (Mw 6.0). Cascading ruptures within the fracture network produce distinct ground-motion signatures with enriched high-frequency content, arising from simultaneous slip of multiple fractures and parts of the main fault, resembling source coda-wave-like signatures. This case shows elevated near-field characteristic frequency (fc) and stress drop, approximately an order of magnitude higher than the estimation directly on the fault of the dynamic rupture simulation. The inferred fc of the modeled vertical ground-motion components reflects the complexity of the radiation pattern and rupture directivity of fracture-network cascading earthquakes. We show that this is consistent with observations of strong azimuthal dependence of corner frequency in the 2009–2016 central Apennines, Italy, earthquake, sequence. Simulated ground motions from fracture-network cascading ruptures also show pronounced azimuthal variations in peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity, and pseudospectral acceleration, with average PGA nearly double that of the non-cascading cases. Cascading ruptures radiate high-frequency seismic energy, yield nontypical ground-motion characteristics including coda-wave-like signatures, and may result in a significantly higher seismologically inferred stress drop and PGA. Such outcomes emphasize the critical role of fault-zone complexity in affecting rupture dynamics and seismic radiation and have important implications for physics-based seismic hazard assessment.
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- PAR ID:
- 10633051
- Publisher / Repository:
- AGU
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
- ISSN:
- 0037-1106
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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