8 Multidisciplinary studies of fault and earthquake hazard in low-strain environments: Applications to the Intermountain West region (Posters)

This session invites contributions that aim to characterize earthquake hazard within the low-strain Intermountain West region. We encourage abstracts that span field-based paleoseismology and geophysical studies and are particularly interested in interdisciplinary investigations.

Monday, 18 May 2026
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Alvarado D/E

Evaluating Strain Localization Along the Alamogordo Fault, Central New Mexico

Paper number: 8-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Earthquake magnitude scales with the length of the ruptured fault plane. As fault zones are typically multi-stranded and morphologically complex, regional seismic hazard assessments require an understanding of how individual fault segments may link together to produce large earthquakes. Though the impact of fault segmentation on throughgoing rupture behavior has been explored extensively along strike-slip faults, such as the San Andreas system in California, similar studies along normal faults are more limited. The Alamogordo fault is a segmented normal fault in the Tularosa Basin of south-central New Mexico with established seismogenic potential. A rupture along this fault threatens critical infrastructure, such as the city of Alamogordo (population 30,000), White Sands Missile Range, and Holloman Air Force Base. Despite the recognized seismic hazard potential of the Alamogordo fault, studies of its throughgoing rupture behavior are limited to the central span of the fault, and geomorphic metrics of segment-crossing seismic potential–such as continuous along-strike displacement-length profiles–are lacking along much of its surface trace.

 

In this study, we present geomorphic slip rates at three sites along the Alamogordo fault and possible controls on strain localization along its length using a combination of remote sensing, field-based mapping, and geodynamic modeling techniques. We document a difference in net displacement and fault activity rates between the central and distal segments of the fault. The central Sacramento segment of the Alamogordo fault shows consistent displacement values along-strike and greater amounts of offset, whereas the distal McGregor and Three Rivers segments show asymmetrical patterns of slip and taper towards their terminations. Calculated slip rates range from 0.2 to 3.0 mm/yr, with higher slip rates on the central portion of the fault. The complex localization of strain along-strike necessitates future detailed paleoseismic analysis for a complete understanding of the Alamogordo fault’s slip history.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026RM-410715

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