Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
197,693 studies31 sourcesUpdated 15 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0Science Advances

The big impact of small quakes on tectonic tremor synchronization

  • Gaspard Farge
  • Emily Brodsky
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Tectonic tremor tracks the repeated slow rupture of certain major plate boundary faults. One of the most perplexing aspects about tremor is that some fault segments produce strongly periodic, spatially extensive tremor episodes, while others have more disorganized, asynchronous activity. Here, we measure the size of segments that activate synchronously during tremor episodes and the relationship to regional earthquake rate on major plate boundaries. Tremor synchronization in space seems to be limited by the activity of small, nearby crustal and intraslab earthquakes. This observation can be explained by a competition between the self-synchronization of fault segments and perturbation by regional earthquakes. Our results imply previously unrecognized interactions across subduction systems, in which earthquake activity far from the fault influences whether it breaks in small or large segments.

Related

  1. Impact of polyphase tectonic on fractured basement reservoir: Insight into the basin-basement interface from the Villé Basin (Vosges, France)
    Diwan Desnos, Gaétan Milesi, Catherine Lerouge +10
    Bulletin de la Société Géologique de FrancePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textGeophysics & seismologyHAL
  2. Gravitational energy released when Earth quakes: Heat supply for island-arc volcanism
    Benjamin F. Chao, Sheng-An Shih, Frederic Deschamps +1
    arXivPreprintCC BY-NC-SA 4.0Full textGeophysics & seismologyarXiv
  3. Automated small-scale devices and robotic systems for analyzing the cellular impact of ambient aerosol particles
    Seongho Jeong, Ki Eun Kim, Chang-Ho Han +2
    iSciencePeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Atmospheric science & meteorologyCell PressCrossref
  4. Think small, impact large: how nanochemistry changes the fate of wastewater
    Saibalendu Sarkar
    RSC SustainabilityPeer-reviewedCC BYFull text1 citedEnvironmental science & pollutionDOAJ
  5. Tectonic modulation of caldera volcanism on the South Aegean Volcanic Arc
    Abigail Metcalfe, Tim Druitt, Katharina Pank +33
    Earth and Planetary Science LettersPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full text7 citedGeophysics & seismologyHAL

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{farge2026impact,
  title = {{The big impact of small quakes on tectonic tremor synchronization}},
  author = {Gaspard Farge and Emily Brodsky},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.adu7173},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05775122v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The big impact of small quakes on tectonic tremor synchronization
AU  - Gaspard Farge
AU  - Emily Brodsky
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.adu7173
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05775122v1
AB  - Tectonic tremor tracks the repeated slow rupture of certain major plate boundary faults. One of the most perplexing aspects about tremor is that some fault segments produce strongly periodic, spatially extensive tremor episodes, while others have more disorganized, asynchronous activity. Here, we measure the size of segments that activate synchronously during tremor episodes and the relationship to regional earthquake rate on major plate boundaries. Tremor synchronization in space seems to be limited by the activity of small, nearby crustal and intraslab earthquakes. This observation can be explained by a competition between the self-synchronization of fault segments and perturbation by regional earthquakes. Our results imply previously unrecognized interactions across subduction systems, in which earthquake activity far from the fault influences whether it breaks in small or large segments.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -