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ABSTRACT CyberShake is a high-performance computing workflow for kinematic fault-rupture and earthquake ground-motion simulation developed by the Statewide California Earthquake Center to facilitate physics-based probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). CyberShake exploits seismic reciprocity for wave propagation by computing strain green tensors along fault planes, which in turn are convolved with rupture models to generate surface seismograms. Combined with a faultwide hypocentral variation of each simulated rupture, this procedure allows for generating ground-motion synthetics that account for realistic source variability. This study validates the platform’s kinematic modeling of physics-based seismic wave propagation simulations in Southwest Iceland as the first step toward migrating CyberShake from its original study region in California. Specifically, we have implemented CyberShake workflows to model 2103 fault ruptures and simulate the corresponding two horizontal components of ground-motion velocity on a 5 km grid of 625 stations in Southwest Iceland. A 500-yr-long earthquake rupture forecast consisting of 223 hypothetical finite-fault sources of Mw 5–7 was generated using a physics-based model of the bookshelf fault system of the Southwest Iceland transform zone. For each station, every reciprocal simulation uses 0–1 Hz Gaussian point sources polarized along two horizontal grid directions. Comparison of the results in the form of rotation-invariant synthetic pseudoacceleration spectral response values at 3, 4, and 5 s periods are in good agreement with the Icelandic strong motion data set and a suite of empirical Bayesian ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs). The vast majority of the physics-based simulations fall within one standard deviation of the mean GMPE predictions, previously estimated for the area. At large magnitudes for which no data exist in Iceland, the synthetic data set may play an important role in constraining GMPEs for future applications. Our results comprise the first step toward comprehensive and physics-based PSHA for Southwest Iceland. 

Abstract The Húsavík‐Flatey Fault Zone (HFFZ) is the largest strike‐slip fault in Iceland and poses a high seismic risk to coastal communities. To investigate physics‐based constraints on earthquake hazards, we construct three fault system models of varying geometric complexity and model 79 3‐D multi‐fault dynamic rupture scenarios in the HFFZ. By assuming a simple regional prestress and varying hypocenter locations, we analyze the rupture dynamics, fault interactions, and the associated ground motions up to 2.5 Hz. All models account for regional seismotectonics, topo‐bathymetry, 3‐D subsurface velocity, viscoelastic attenuation, and off‐fault plasticity, and we explore the effect of fault roughness. The rupture scenarios obey earthquake scaling relations and predict magnitudes comparable to those of historical events. We show how fault system geometry and segmentation, hypocenter location, and prestress can affect the potential for rupture cascading, leading to varying slip distributions across different portions of the fault system. Our earthquake scenarios yield spatially heterogeneous near‐field ground motions modulated by geometric complexities, topography, and rupture directivity, particularly in the near‐field. The average ground motion attenuation characteristics of dynamic rupture scenarios of comparable magnitudes and mean stress drop are independent of variations in source complexity, magnitude‐consistent and in good agreement with the latest regional empirical ground motion models. However, physics‐based ground motion variability changes considerably with fault‐distance and increases for unilateral compared to bilateral ruptures. Systematic variations in physics‐based near‐fault ground motions provide important insights into the mechanics and potential earthquake hazard of large strike‐slip fault systems, such as the HFFZ.