The Focal Mechanism and Characteristic of Stress Field in the Zipingpu Area before the MS8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake

Based on seismic wave records of the Chengdu digital seismic network and Zipingpu reservoir digital seismic network from August 16,2004 to May 12,2008 when the Wenchuan MS8.0 earthquake occurred,the parameters of focal mechanisms of 486 earthquakes with magnitude larger than M1.6 in the Zipingpu reservoir area were calculated using amplitude ratio method,meanwhile the temporal-spatial variation characteristics of mechanisms and stress field were analyzed based on these parameters.Results show a low ratio of thrust earthquakes and an increased number of strike-slip earthquakes in the reservoir water area in the period from 2006 to 2008.While in the areas far from the reservoir waterfront,the thrust earthquakes took up a high proportion and the strike-slip ones did not increase.The direction of mean principal compressive stress field was deflected and disturbed differently in each area before the Wenchuan MS8.0 earthquake.