Depth Distribution of Aftershocks in the China Mainland and Its Rheological Mechanism

摘要

The relationship between aftershock depths and surface heat flow in the source areas of five great earthquakes (M_s ≥ 7.0) in the China mainland has been studied in this paper. The result shows that the higher the surface heat flow, the shallower is the aftershock depth, and that the distribution of aftershock depths is controlled by the rheological mechanism of brittle-ductile transition of rocks in the crust.