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Recent studies suggested that transient and long‐term stress changes caused by Earth's surface processes (e.g., extreme weather events, annual variations on groundwater storages) can affect earthquake activities in the subsurface. However, these studies may be limited by the completeness of standard earthquake catalogs, especially during or right after extreme weather events. Here we apply the template matching method to build a more complete earthquake catalog in Taiwan spanning seven months before and 12 months after 2009 typhoon Morakot, which brought the highest rainfall in southern Taiwan in the past 60 years and triggered numerous landslides. We then use the enhanced catalog to investigate possible influences of typhoon‐driven Earth's surface processes (atmospheric pressure, precipitation, and erosion) on local seismicity. We find that the seismicity rate of a 40‐day earthquake sequence in northeastern Taiwan was reduced significantly right after the passage of typhoon Morakot's eye center. In the typhoon‐triggered landslide zone in southern Taiwan, we find a slight increase in background seismicity rate in the next year after Morakot, matching the results of a recent study. However, we do not observe a clear change in the Gutenberg‐Richter b‐value in this zone, which is different from the recent study. Station outages during and right after Morakot prevents us from better understanding short‐term precipitation effect on local seismicity. Overall, except for a reduction in seismicity rate near the typhoon's low‐pressure eye center in northeastern Taiwan, we do not observe other clear seismicity changes that can be attributed to surface changes induced by typhoon Morakot. Plain Language Summary: It is important to study cascading nature hazards (typhoons/hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes, etc.) because of their threats to human life and property. 2009 typhoon Morakot is the deadliest typhoon in Taiwan, which brought the highest rainfall in the past 60 years and led to numerous landslides. To investigate the possible influences of Morakot on subsurface earthquake activities, we build a more complete earthquake catalog for Taiwan spanning seven months before and 12 months after 2009 typhoon Morakot. This enhanced earthquake catalog includes many small earthquakes that cannot be felt by local residents in their ordinary life and were not in the standard earthquake catalog. In northeastern Taiwan, our results show that a 40‐day earthquake sequence was apparently shut down right after the passage of typhoon Morakot. If this observation is not a pure coincidence, it may suggest that the low‐pressure system of typhoon Morakot was capable of modulating the subsurface seismicity behavior. In southern Taiwan, the heavy‐rainfall and landslide region, we do not observe clear seismicity changes that can be attributed to surface changes induced by typhoon Morakot. Key Points: We use a template matching method to rebuild an earthquake catalog for Taiwan 7 months before and 12 months after 2009 typhoon MorakotThe seismicity rate of a 40‐day earthquake sequence in northeastern Taiwan was reduced significantly after the passage of MorakotThe seismicity rate increased slightly but without clear b‐value change after Morakot in typhoon‐driven landslide zone in southern Taiwan [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The seismicity rate in central Taiwan remained high after Chi-Chi. [•] The rate increase could be attributed to the Chi-Chi coseismic stress increase. [•] Postseismic stress evolution cannot explain seismicity behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Alishan area of Taiwan spans the transition from the platform with full thickness of the Eurasian continental margin in the north to the thinning crust of its slope in the south. This part of the foreland thrust and fold belt includes important along-strike changes in structure, stratigraphy, and seismic velocities. In this paper we present the results of new geological mapping from which we build geological cross sections both across and along the regional structural trend. Fault contour, stratigraphic cutoff, and branch line maps provide 3-D consistency between the cross sections. Minimum shortening is estimated to be ~15 km with displacement overall to the northwest. A P wave velocity model helps constrain the structure at depth by providing insight into the possible rock units that are present there. P wave velocities of ≥ 5.2 km/s point toward the presence of basement rocks in the shallow subsurface throughout much of the southeastern part of the area, forming a basement culmination. The changes in strike of thrusts and fold axial traces, the changing elevation of thrusts and stratigraphic contacts, and the growing importance of Middle Miocene sediments that take place from north to south are interpreted to be associated with a roughly northeast striking lateral structure coincident with the northern flank of this basement culmination. These transverse structures appear to be associated with the inversion of Eocene- and Miocene-age extensional faults along what was the shelf-slope transition in the Early Oligocene, uplifting the margin sediments and their higher P wave velocity basement during Pliocene-Pleistocene thrusting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquake prediction is by all means controversial and challenging, given the fact that some recent catastrophic earthquakes went unpredicted. Not surprisingly, statistical approaches have been utilized to model earthquake randomness in time or space. One of the suggestions is that the earthquake's temporal probability distribution should follow the Poisson model, which is suitable for rare events by definition. As a result, the customarily used hypothesis should be largely associated with the prior judgment that earthquakes are rare, but not as a result of abundant quantitative evidence or theoretical derivation. Therefore, this study aims to offer new empirical evidence to the hypothesis based on 110-year-long earthquake data around Taiwan. From the series of statistical tests, the first statistical inference is indeed in line with the model's proposition: the level of fitting between observation and theory is better for earthquakes with a lower mean rate. To be more specific, it shows that the Poissonian hypothesis applied to local magnitude earthquakes around Taiwan with a mean annual rate as high as 1,600 is clearly rejected, but as far as earthquakes with a mean rate of 0.35 per year are concerned, the same hypothesis is statistically accepted for modeling their temporal randomness. Also, according to the tests on a variety of conditions, the annual rate of approximately 0.1 per year (or 10-year return period) was suggested as a reasonable empirical estimate for Poissonian rareness. Accordingly, from a practical point of view, it should be a robust analytical presumption to use the Poisson model in daily earthquake engineering analyses because the return period of design earthquakes is longer than 10 years, if not much longer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Three approaches are introduced to estimate maximum aftershock magnitudes in Taiwan. [•] All of the approaches demonstrated their feasibility within the range of uncertainty. [•] The obtained results may be of benefit to decision-makers for seismic hazards mitigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] P- and S-velocity anomalies in the mantle beneath Taiwan are presented. [•] Seismic tomography clearly reveals two slabs beneath Taiwan. [•] The origin of Taiwan is due to collision of two oppositely oriented subduction zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to better understand the mode of subduction polarity reversal in the Taiwan–Luzon arc-continent collision zone, we mapped its crust–mantle boundaries using local earthquake tomography. By contouring surfaces of constant Vp=7.5kms−1, we identified three Moho discontinuities and the plate interface that juxtaposes Eurasian lower crust against mantle lithosphere of the Philippine Sea plate. The plate interface dips to the east under southeastern Taiwan and steepens progressively towards north until it becomes vertical at 23.7°N. From there it continues northward in a vertical orientation, until the limit of the tomographic model inhibited further mapping. For the Moho, additional depth constraints were derived from 1D models using P-wave arrivals of local earthquakes. The Mohos of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates are disconnected across the plate interface. Beneath southern Taiwan, the Eurasian Moho dips to the east at 50–60°, following the orientation of the plate boundary and continuous with the Benioff zone. Towards north, the Eurasian Moho steepens into subvertical, again together with the plate boundary. The Philippine Sea plate Moho exhibits a synform-like crustal root, interpreted as the base of the magmatic Luzon arc. Towards the north, this root deepens from 30 to 70km underneath the Ryukyu trench. In northernmost Taiwan, the hinge of the vertically subducting Eurasian slab steps westward out of the thrust belt, leaving the deformation front to the east inactive and giving way to the north-dipping Philippine Sea plate. A subhorizontal Moho at 30–35km depth overlies the north-dipping Philippine Sea slab and is interpreted as a newly formed Moho, established after westward rollback and delamination of the subducting Eurasian slab. In combination, these data support a model of progressive subduction polarity reversal, in which a tear within the Eurasian lithosphere propagated southwestward, deactivating the deformation front. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Following the 4 March 2010 MW 6.4 Jiashian earthquake the seismicity rate in southern Taiwan was determined to be significantly higher than before the quake and aroused seismic hazard awareness. In this work, seismic hazards were investigated in terms of earthquake activity, the Coulomb stress change, the rate-and-state friction model, and short-term seismic hazard assessments. The significantly higher seismicity rate that followed the 2010 Jiashian earthquake was found to mainly be attributed to aftershock decay, in terms of the modified Omori formula. The results suggest that aftershock duration may continue until the end of 2012. The spatial migration of seismicity was modeled using the Coulomb stress changes of large earthquakes. Most of the consequent events were distributed in the vicinity of large earthquakes. The observations corresponded to a remarkable stress increase within the same area. Additionally, large events were located within regions with stress increases promoted by previous earthquakes. The results confirm interactive relationships between large events. By considering time-dependency, the seismicity rate evolution was estimated using the rate-and-state friction model. The results indicated that a high seismic rate will persist at least until the end of 2012. Short-term probabilistic seismic hazard assessments were also applied in terms of the probability of strong ground motion. Using this application, a sudden jump in seismic hazards in southern Taiwan was accompanied by each large earthquake. At the end of 2012 it is expected that hazards will return to a background level. Our results may be valuable in the future to decision-makers and public officials engaged in seismic hazard mitigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigate the spatial and temporal variations of b-values before twenty-three earthquakes with M L ≥6.0 in the Taiwan region from 1999 to 2009. We estimate the spatial distribution of b-values within a one-year period before the occurrence of investigated earthquakes. It shows that the epicenters of those earthquakes are located predominately in the regions with low b-values relative to the entire study area. In terms of temporal evolutions, the b-values are slightly lower during the year prior to the investigated earthquakes in comparison to the periods two to five years earlier. We propose that these anomalies may offer spatiotemporal constraints for the earthquake forecasting in Taiwan in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A very common but important observation of collided and accreted volcanic arcs is that the forearc regions of these arcs are largely or even entirely missing. The processes and mechanisms responsible for the removal and transport of the forearc materials from the collisional belts are thus important issues in understanding tectonics and crustal growth. The young and ongoing collision between the Luzon volcanic arc and the Eurasian continental margin that forms the island of Taiwan provides a rare opportunity to examine these processes and mechanisms as they occur. From observations of a new detailed 3-D tomography combined with relocated hypocenters of two earthquake sequences occurred in 2003 and 2006, we found that the Luzon forearc lithosphere initially underthrusts westward after the collision began. As the collision proceeds, the forearc basement then subducts eastward beneath the colliding and accreting Luzon arc along a major fault system in eastern Taiwan. Thus the Luzon forearc lithosphere appears to be removed by tectonic erosion and is being transported eastward into the mantle. Our results from the active Taiwan orogen will provide important insights for interpreting rock records from many old arc-continent collisional belts in the world. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The use of characteristic period τc and peak displacement amplitude Pd of the initial P wave in earthquake early warning (EEW) was proposed by Wu and Kanamori . Here we apply this approach to strong-motion records from a building sensor array installed in Taitung County, Taiwan. This building was damaged during the 2006 Mw =6.1 Taitung earthquake with a peak ground velocity (PGV) of up to 38.4cm/s at an epicentral distance of 14.5km. According to our analysis, the peak displacement amplitude Pd is a better indicator for the destructiveness of an earthquake than τc because τc is more sensitive to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than Pd. In accordance with previous studies, only the structurally damaging Taitung earthquake generated a Pd value larger than 0.5cm (a threshold for identifying damaging events). Using Pd as an indicator for destructive earthquakes does not lead to missing or false alarms for EEW purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new prototype earthquake early warning (EEW) system is being developed and tested using a real-time seismographic network currently in operation in Taiwan. This system is based on the Earthworm environment which carries out integrated analysis of real-time broadband, strong-motion and short-period signals. The peak amplitude of displacement in the three seconds after the P arrival, dubbed Pd , is used for the magnitude determination. Incoming signals are processed in real time. When a large earthquake occurs, P-wave arrival times and Pd will be estimated for location and magnitude determinations for EEW purpose. In a test of 54 felt earthquakes, this system can report earthquake information in 18.8±4.1s after the earthquake occurrence with an average difference in epicenter locations of 6.3±5.7km, and an average difference in depths of 7.9±6.6km from catalogues. The magnitudes approach a 1:1 relationship to the reported magnitudes with a standard deviation of 0.51. Therefore, this system can provide early warning before the arrival of S-wave for metropolitan areas located 70km away from the epicenter. This new system is still under development and being improved, with the hope of replacing the current operational EEW system in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We combine the arrival time data from eleven ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) and from permanent stations of the Central Weather Bureau Seismic Network (CWBSN) and the Taiwan Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (TSMIP) to improve the three-dimensional Vp and Vp/Vs structures in the Taiwan region, relocate hypocenters of earthquakes in southern Taiwan including the 2006 Pingtung Earthquake sequence, and determine the focal mechanisms of some of the larger events. Our tomography result suggests that in the region south of Taiwan the Eurasian continental lithosphere is being subducted beneath the oceanic Philippine Sea plate, leading to a region of low P-wave speed with seismicity on top of a relatively high P-wave speed zone. The hypocentral distribution of the Pingtung Earthquake sequence indicates that the first event in the initial two largest shocks was a normal-faulting quake caused by the bending of the subducting lithosphere. The second event, perhaps triggered by the first one, was a strike-slip earthquake. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Proposed in the late 1980s, cumulative absolute velocity (CAV) is a new intensity measure for earthquake ground motion characterizations, followed by studies and applications such as CAV ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs). In this study, two new CAV GMPEs were developed with 24,667 strong-motion records from Taiwan, and the first CAV seismic hazard assessment for Taipei (the most important city in Taiwan) was then conducted using the local CAV models. It shows that the annual rate for the study area to encounter a ground motion with CAV >0.97 g-sec is 0.002 per year, corresponding to a 10% occurrence probability in 50 years. By contrast, the deterministic scenario-based analysis shows that the CAV seismic hazard is about 0.60 g-sec for the study area. Future studies are worth conducting to develop more sophisticated, local CAV GPMEs and to explore more applications of such CAV prediction models, such as the developments of PGA-CAV joint probability distributions for conducting PGA-CAV joint seismic hazard assessments. • First CAV GMPE for Taiwan areas. • More than 4,000 strong motion records used. • CAV-based seismic hazard analysis for Taipei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquake early warning (EEW) has been implemented in several regions around the world. However, because of natural randomness and uncertainty, false alarm and missed alarm can be expected in EEW. The key scope of this study is to evaluate the reliability of an on-site EEW in Taiwan, by testing the system's algorithm with 17,836 earthquake data from 1999 to 2013. The analysis shows that the on-site EEW system, empirically speaking, should have a false-alarm probability of 2.5%, and a missed-alarm probability of 14.1%. Considering missed alarm should be more critical to EEW, a new algorithm that could reduce the system's missed-alarm occurrences to 6% is also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We explore regional stress states in the vicinity of the rupture area of the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake by reconciling data from the Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling Project (TCDP) in-situ measurements and earthquake focal mechanisms. Given the background deviatoric stress in the range of 10–50MPa and the horizontal NW–SE directed maximum principal stress axis, the predicted fault types show strike–slip and normal faulting near the coseismic surface rupture and thrust and strike–slip faulting in central Taiwan. Such predictions are able to fit TCDP in-situ observations in a local scale and aftershock earthquake focal mechanisms in a regional scale. Additionally, the proposed stress state explains remarkable rotations of the maximum stress axes observed near the northern segment of the Chelungpu Fault. This result provides key information for forecasting of consequent earthquakes and evaluation of focal mechanisms after the occurrence of a large earthquake. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Research at plate boundaries generally focuses on the kinematics of plate motions, the genesis of large earthquake, and natural resources. However, often the present state of knowledge is still insufficient to reveal the details of such dynamic systems. To define in more detail the dynamics of, a major plate boundary fault the Coastal Range Fault, eastern Taiwan, we use seismologic and geodetic data to unravel its subsurface geometry and relevant fault behavior. By recomputing the archive triangulation datasets (1917–1978), and using a dislocation algorithm, we determine that it consists of three segments. Our model results are consistent with the observation of the 1951 M7.3 Hualien–Taitung earthquake sequence: that the southern two segments are both oblique-slip faults with significant thrust components, while the northern segment is a pure strike-slip fault. According to our model each segment has the potential to produce an earthquake larger than M7. However, based on GPS observations and seismic records, slip on the southern segment may take the form of aseismic creep and multiple moderate earthquakes, rather than large events with long recurrence interval as occur on the two more northerly segments. With regard to the central segment, the epicenter distribution of catalogued earthquakes occurring after 1951 reveals the presence of a seismic gap, indicating that slip on this segment is predominantly coseismic, with a correspondingly higher potential for large earthquakes in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we study (1) the spatial anomalies and (2) the temporal anomalies of soil gas in northern Taiwan. The spatial anomalies of soil gas are related to tectonic faults, while the temporal anomalies of soil gas are associated with pre-earthquake activities. Detailed soil gas sampling was systematically performed, and the analysis of the collected gas species shows that high helium and nitrogen concentrations appear in samples from specific sites, which coincide with the structural setting of the area studied. This analysis indicates the possibility of using these soil gases to determine fault zones in the studied area. Based on the soil gas data, a station (Tapingti) for automatic soil gas monitoring was constructed on an appropriate site at the fault zone. Some anomalous high radon concentrations at certain times can be identified from the dataset, which was generated by the continuous monitoring of soil gas for over a year. Notably, many of these anomalies were observed several hours to a few days before the earthquakes (M L > 3) that occurred in northern Taiwan. By combining the information of epicenters and fault plane solutions of these earthquakes, we find that the shallow earthquakes (<15 km) were mainly strike-slip and normal-type earthquakes, and concentrated within a distance of 30 km to the monitoring site (Group A). The deep earthquakes (>20 km) were mainly thrust-type earthquakes and distributed in greater distances (>45 km) east of the monitoring site (Group B). Such focal mechanisms of earthquakes suggest an extensional and compressional structural domain in the continental crust for Group A and Group B earthquakes, respectively. It is suggested that the pre-earthquake activities associated with the seismicity of Group B may be transmitted along the major decollement in the region below the Tapingti station, leading to the observed soil gas enhancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Taiwan mountain belt is generally thought to develop above a through-going basal thrust confined to within the sedimentary cover of the Eurasian continental margin. Surface geology, magnetotelluric, earthquake hypocenter, and seismic tomography data suggest, however, that crustal levels below this basal thrust are also currently being involved in the deformation. Here, we combine seismic tomography and earthquake hypocenter data to investigate the deformation that is taking place at depth beneath south-central Taiwan. In this paper, we define the basement as any pre-Eocene rifting rocks, and use a P-wave velocity of 5.2 km/s as a reference for the interface between these rocks and their sedimentary cover. We found that beneath the Coastal Plain and the Western Foothills clustering of hypocenters near the basement-cover interface suggests that this interface is acting as a detachment. This detachment is located below the basal thrust proposed from surface geology for this part of the mountain belt. Inherited basement faults appear to determine the geometry of this detachment, and their inversion in the Alishan area result in the development of a basement uplift and a lateral structure in the thrust system above them. However, across the Shuilikeng and the Chaochou faults, earthquake hypocenters define steeply dipping clusters that extend to greater than 20 km depth, above which higher velocity basement rocks are uplifted beneath the Hsuehshan and Central ranges. We interpret these clusters to form a deeply penetrating, east-dipping ramp that joins westward with the detachment at the basement-cover interface. It is not possible to define a basal thrust to the east, beneath the Central Range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]