Fault model of the 1995 Neftegorsk, Northern Sakhalin, earthquake based on crustal deformation detected by JERS-1/SAR interferometry

A large (Mw=7.0) earthquake occurred on May 27, 1995 at the northern part of Sakhalin Island. The authors detect crustal deformations around the seismic fault by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry using JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1) data. The result is consistent with field surveys on the part of the fault. A pair of adjacent peaks of uplift is detected at the southern edge of the seismic fault where geodetic observation is difficult because of inconvenient transportation. Using this crustal deformation data, the authors construct a fault model by a non-linear least squares method. Their model is in agreement with seismic wave study. It can reproduce the characteristic deformation features detected by SAR interferometry. Their study shows that SAR interferometry is a unique geodetic tool to obtain spatially dense information which could not be obtained by other techniques.