The Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake of October 1, 1987—Seismology
- 1 February 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Earthquake Spectra
- Vol. 4 (1) , 43-53
- https://doi.org/10.1193/1.1585464
Abstract
The October 1, 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake ( ML = 5.9) was located at 34° 3.0′N, 118° 4.8′W, at the northwestern end of the Puente Hills. The sequence ruptured a small part, 4 km by 5 km, of a previously unidentified, buried, thrust fault that strikes east-west and dips 25° down to the north. This fault may be part of a large system of thrust faults extending across the entire east-west length of the northern margin of the Los Angeles basin. The focus of the mainshock is deep, at 14 ± 1 km. The largest aftershock ( ML = 5.3) produced mostly strike-slip movement on a steeply dipping, northwest plane, that bounds the mainshock rupture area to the west. Enhancement of the Los Angeles basin seismic network would facilitate investigation of the potential of these faults for moderate-sized or large earthquakes.Keywords
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