The 1993 Klamath Falls, Oregon, Earthquake Sequence: Source Mechanisms from Regional Data

We use regional broadband seismograms to obtain seismic moment-tensor solutions of the two September 20, 1993, M _w =6, Klamath Falls, Oregon earthquakes, their foreshock and largest aftershocks (M _D >3.5). Several sub-groups with internally consistent solutions indicate activity on several fault segments and faults. From the estimated moment-tensors and depths of the main shocks and from the aftershock distribution we deduce that both main shocks occurred on an east-dipping normal fault, possibly related to the Lake of the Woods fault system. Rotation of T-axes between the two main shocks is consistent with the two dominant trends of the aftershocks and mapped faults. We propose that a change in fault strike acted as temporary barrier separating the rupture of the main shocks. Empirical Green's function analysis shows that the first main event had a longer rupture duration (half-duration 1.7 s) than the second (1.2 s). In December, vigorous shallow activity commenced near Klamath Lake's western shore, 5–10 km east of the primary aftershock zone. It appears a M _w =5.5 aftershock occurring the day before, though within the primary aftershock zone, triggered the activity.