The 18 August 2014 M (sub w) 6.2 Murmuri, southwest Iran, earthquake; aftershock sequence analysis

The Murmuri earthquake with magnitude M (sub w) 6.2 occurred in 18 August 2014 in southwest Iran and was followed by many aftershocks. In this article, we analyze the approximately 3 months of aftershock sequence. The general pattern of relocated aftershocks distribution shows two connected seismic zones covering areas of approximately 35X15 and 20X7 km (super 2) . The Murmuri sequence shows a secondary aftershock sequence, which started on 15 October approximately 2 months after the mainshock, with a significant increase in activity, concerning both events and their magnitudes. The mainshock and its large aftershock on 15 October occurred by activation of two separate faults with nearly the same strikes in northwest-southeast (NW-SE) direction. The cross sections through aftershock locations show that the dominant depth range of aftershocks is from approximately 6 to approximately 16 km, and they present an aseismic zone along rupture from the surface down to 6 km depth. The sections show that the deeper aftershocks are located in the southwestern part of the causative faults for the mainshock and the aftershock on 15 October. This geometry is consistent with a unilateral rupture toward southeast in the causative faults for the mainshock and the large event on 15 October.