Measurements of present‐day surface deformation are essential for the assessment of long‐term seismic hazard. The European Space Agency's Sentinel‐1 satellites enable global, high‐resolution observation of crustal motion from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). We have developed automated InSAR processing systems that exploit the first ~5 years of Sentinel‐1 data to measure surface motions for the ~800,000‐km2 Anatolian region. Our new 3‐D velocity and strain rate fields illuminate deformation patterns dominated by westward motion of Anatolia relative to Eurasia, localized strain accumulation along the North and East Anatolian Faults, and rapid vertical signals associated with anthropogenic activities and to a lesser extent extension across the grabens of western Anatolia. We show that automatically processed Sentinel‐1 InSAR data can characterize details of the velocity and strain rate fields with high resolution and accuracy over large regions. These results are important for assessing the relationship between strain accumulation and release in earthquakes.
The degree to which deformation and seismicity is focused on major mapped structures remains a key unknown in assessing seismic hazards and testing continental deformation models. Here we combine 208 Global Positioning System (GPS) velocities with 12‐track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) rate maps to form high‐resolution velocity and strain rate fields for south‐central Tibet. Our results show that deformation is not evenly distributed across the region. We find a few zones with high strain rates, most notably the Yutian‐Zhongba strain rate zone. However, the average of the strain rates is similar within and outside the mapped fault zones. In addition, the slip rates are low on all the conjugate strike‐slip faults widespread in central Tibet. The observations are difficult to reconcile with time‐invariant block models or with continuum models that lack mechanisms for strain localization. Our results support arguments that the most robust estimates of seismic hazard should integrate seismicity catalogues, active fault maps, and geodetic strain rate models.
Summary. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the most important economic regions with the highest population densities in China. With its dramatic increasing