Mapping the northern portion of the Chelungpu fault, Taiwan by shallow reflection seismics

The Chelungpu fault was activated by the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake (Mw=7.6), Taiwan. This fault exhibited extraordinarily large surface ruptures (up to 9.8 m) as well as underground fault slippages (up to 12 m) during the earthquake. These large displacements were concentrated along the northern portion of the fault, 40 km north of the epicenter. To prepare data for the future drilling of deep wells in this area, many shallow seismic reflection surveys were conducted to investigate the sites. An approximate 3D structure of the fault surface can be deduced by this cost-effective approach. Although the depth penetration may be limited (e.g., 3 km), the method still provides reliable information to study large ruptures, and to better plan future deep wells.