The 2005 volcano-tectonic earthquake swarm in the Andaman Sea: Triggered by the 2004 great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

Abstract

A 6 day duration earthquakes swarm occurred in the Andaman Sea, 31 days after the giant 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (Mw 9.2). The swarm occurred less than 100 km from the eastern edge of the 2004 earthquake rupture and is the most energetic ever recorded in the world. The earthquakes swarm appear to have occurred on en echelon fault system bounded by the two main right-lateral strike-slip faults, namely, the Seulimeum Strand of Sumatra Fault system (SEU) and the West Andaman Fault (WAF). At the beginning of the swarm, earthquakes with predominantly strike-slip focal mechanisms occurred which were followed by earthquakes with predominantly normal faulting focal mechanisms having significant deviatoric component. High b value, presence of double slope in the Gutenberg-Richter relation, presence of monogenetic submarine volcanoes in the region of the swarm and the earthquake focal mechanisms suggest that the swarm was of volcano-tectonic origin and fluid flow played an important role in its occurrence. Indeed, our modeling suggests that it was triggered by the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake through poroelastic relaxation of the coseismic stresses.