A LiDAR and field study of surface rupture and post-seismic slip for the 6th April 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake (M6.3). (URGENCY GRANT)

Normal faulting earthquakes produce coseismic vertical motions that have previously been observed to amplify during the days and weeks after the mainshock by a process known as 'postseismic creep' or 'after-slip'. It is vital to quantify the relative contributions of coseismic and postseismic motion in order to interpret (a) palaeoseismic observations where measurements of fault slip are made many years after the earthquake, or (b) historical documents where earthquake magnitude must be inferred from records of surface damage/shaking intensity, as without such constraints there is considerable uncertainty in the magnitude of the event implied by these data sets. Furthermore, if combined with other geodetic data sets, the amplitude, wavelength and timescales associated with such postseismic creep can also potentially constrain rheological changes and reloading of seismogenic faults. We will use LiDAR to scan a representative number of locations along the 6th April 2009 normal faulting earthquake rupture in L'Aquila in central Italy (M 6.3), in the immediate aftermath of the event and again in the coming weeks to quantify shallow after-slip. We will be accompanied by civil protection authorities (Dr. E. Vittori and his team; Head of Natural Hazards Unit at APAT - Agenzia per la Protezione dell'Ambiente e per i Servizi Technici, Rome; Dr. S. Barba and his team, Rome, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome), who will help us to access sites, and who initiated mapping of ruptures immediately after the earthquake. We have established expertise in the earthquake geology of central Italy, LiDAR scanning, the mechanics of earthquakes and faulting and, moreover, this earthquake occurred in an area where we are currently working on earthquake recurrence as part of NERC grant (NE/E01545X/1).