Area Balancing Method as a Useful Tool to Estimate the Depth of the Chi-Chi Earthquake Rupture at the Fengyuan Well

Abstract

The 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, Mw = 7.6, was associated with a near 100-km-long surface rupture along which the horizontal slip and vertical displacement reached to 9 m and 4 m, respectively, according to coseismic GPS slip vectors. After the Chi-Chi earthquake, drilling projects were conducted to clarify the characteristics of the earthquake rupture in depth. At the Fengyuan site, inclined-well drilling was performed at an angle of 50 degrees westward to a drilling depth of 455.3 m in the northern segment of the Chi-Chi earthquake rupture. Two possible earthquake rupture zones were observed at drilling depths of 225 m and 330 m according to the core structures and seismic profiling. We apply an area balancing method to determine the depth of the earthquake rupture in the cores; and we suggest that the 330-m drilling depth is the most likely candidate for the earthquake rupture.

Keywords

• Chelungpu fault
• Area balancing method
• Chi-Chi earthquake
• Fengyuan well