Subduction Tractions and Vertical Axis Rotations in the Zagros–Makran Transition Zone, SE Iran: the 2013 May 11Mw 6.1 Minab Earthquake

penney, camilla ; copley, alex ; oveisi, behnam;

The source parameters and slip distribution of the 2013 May 11 Mw 6.1 Minab earthquake are studied using seismology, geodesy and field observations. We observe left-lateral strike-slip motion on a fault striking ENE–WSW; approximately perpendicular to previously studied
faults in the Minab–Zendan–Palami fault zone. The fault that ruptured in 2013 is one of a series of ∼E–W striking left-lateral faults visible in the geology and geomorphology. These accommodate a velocity field equivalent to right-lateral shear on ∼N–S striking planes by clockwise rotations about vertical axes. The presence of these faults can reconcile differences in estimates of fault slip rates in the western Makran from GPS and Quaternary dating. The longitudinal range of shear in the western Makran is likely to be controlled by the distance
over which the underthrusting Arabian lithosphere deepens in the transition from continent–continent collision in the Zagros to oceanic subduction in the Makran.