Focal Mechanism and Rupture Process of the 2012 Mw 7.0 Santa Isabel, Mexico Earthquake Inverted by Teleseismic Data

The point source parameters of the April 12, 2012 Mw 7.0 Santa Isabel, Mexico, earthquake indicated by teleseismic P and SH waveforms obtained by a means of traditional cut and paste(CAP) method show that the best double-couple solution of this event is: 37°/127°, 90°/81° and-9°/-180° for strike, dip and rake, respectively. Its centroid depth is 13 km. Global teleseismic waveform data exhibit that the rupture of the earthquake initiated at a focal depth of 13 km and propagated southeastward with a relatively slow rupture velocity(about 1.8 km/s on average). The maximum slip occurred at 30 km southeast of the hypocenter, with the peak slip of 3.57 m and total seismic moment of whole fault up to 3.98×1019 N·m. These observations provide some insight into properties, co- or post-seismic deformation and coulomb stress changes of future earthquake in this area.