Mapping three-dimensional co-seismic surface deformations associated with the 2015 Mw7.2 Murghab earthquake based on InSAR and characteristics of crustal strain

Three-dimensional (3D) co-seismic surface deformations are of great importance to interpret the characteristics of co-seismic deformations and to understand the geometries and dynamics of seismogenic faults. In this paper, we propose a method for mapping 3D co-seismic deformations based on InSAR observations and crustal strain characteristics. In addition, the search strategy of correlation points is optimized by adaptive correlation distance, which greatly improves the applicability of the proposed method in restoring deformations in decorrelation areas. Results of the simulation experiment reveal that the proposed method is superior to conventional methods in both the accuracy and completeness. The proposed method is then applied to map the 3D co-seismic surface deformations associated with the 2015 M(w)7.2 Murghab earthquake using ascending and descending ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 images. The results show that the seismogenic fault is the Sarez-Karakul fault (SKF), which is dominated by NE-SW strike slips with an almost vertical dip angle. The north section and the south segment near the epicentre have obvious subsidence along with a southwestward motion in the northwest wall, and the southeast wall has northeast movement and surface uplift trend along the fault zone. The strain field of the earthquake is also obtained by the proposed method. It is found that the crustal block of the seismic area is obviously affected by dilatation and shear forces, which is in good agreement with the movement character of the sinistral slip.