Characterizing Near‐Field Surface Deformation in the 1990 Rudbar Earthquake (Iran) Using Optical Image Correlation

Abstract The 1990 Rudbar earthquake (Mw 7.3) broke along three right‐stepping segments of the left‐lateral Rudbar fault, in the western Alborz mountains (Iran), producing ∼80 km of surface rupture. Previously reported horizontal (∼60 cm) field offsets were surprisingly low, and the vertical (∼95 cm) unexpected, given the relatively large moment release, shallow source depth, vertical fault geometry, and left‐lateral rake. We characterize the surface displacement from optical image correlation of satellite and aerial images. A maximum displacement of ∼6.5 m is observed in the eastern part of the rupture consistent with both a sharp pulse in the moment release rate ∼10 s after the rupture initiation, and the macroseismic isoseismal curves. We find ∼2.2 m mean surface slip, larger than field measurements, but consistent with empirical scaling laws based upon the seismological moment release. Estimates of fault zone width based on correlation of 1 m resolution aerial photos (and corrected for smoothing bias) are