Earthquake ground deformation using DInSAR analysis and instrumental seismicity: The 2019 M 6.0 Mesetas Earthquake, Meta, Colombian Andes

Abstract

In this contribution, DInSAR analysis, seismic/brittle strain rates, and seismic uplift estimations were used to evaluate ground deformation patterns of the 24 December 2019 Mw 5.8 Mesetas Earthquake that occurred in the Mesetas municipality (Meta, Colombia), on the eastern foothills of Colombian’s Eastern Cordillera, near the Serranía de la Macarena. According to the focal mechanisms computed for this earthquake, the right-lateral Algeciras Fault System was responsible for the rupture event. Primary and secondary SAR images from December 18/2019 and 30/2019, respectively, were used to calculate coseismic ground deformation of the study area. Geocoded line-of-sight (LOS) displacement image suggests that major ground deformation was on the order of 0.2 m for the 24 December discrete seismic event, while the accumulated seismic contribution to surface uplift during 1993 to 2020 reached values of ca. 0.14 m/yr. In contrast, seismic/brittle strain rates and seismic uplift estimations show that this part of South America is currently experiencing deformation at a rate of 4.1×10-16 ± 1.7×10-17s-1 and uplift at a rate of 81.5 ± 3.4 m/Ma during 2018-2020, whereas the deformation was 0.1×10-16 ± 0.2 ×10-17s-1 at a rate of 2.2 ± 0.5 m/Ma between 1993-2018.