Localized seismic deformation in the upper mantle revealed by dense seismic arrays

Abstract

Earthquakes get a more flexible source Earth's surface deforms in part as a result of ruptures along brittle crustal faults that generate earthquakes. Understanding rock deformation in the ductile lower crust and mantle is challenging. Using the densest seismic arrays in the world, Inbal et al. have found an unexpected localization of seismicity at these depths under the Newport-Inglewood fault in southern California. The seismicity points to a type of earthquake that may help us understand how ductile deformation operates in this region of Earth. Science , this issue p. 88