Paper for dynamics of non-self-similar earthquakes

This repository contains the notebooks for processing the experiments dataset, input files, and intermediate outputs for the paper of "Dynamics of non-self-similar earthquakes illuminated by a controlled fault asperity" (submitted).

Recipe of plotting figures in the article is documented to reproduce the figures in the manuscript.

To reduce the repository size, we maintain the software used in this study across separate GitHub repositories as follows:

Dataset

The original dataset of stick-slip experiments is uploaded in Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15233278), which includes high-sampling AE waveforms, strain, slip, and macroscopic measurement. We saved the data in MATLAB v7.3 format, extracting a 200 ms time window for each stick-slip main event from the continuous recording.

Contents

Variable nameDescriptionUnitChannels
AEdatmatAE waveformsV (range: -10V to 10 V)32
AEsensor_xSensor coordinate of AE sensor along faultmm
DXeastMacroscopic displacement measurement at east of lower rock specimenmm1
DXwestMacroscopic displacement measurement at west of lower rock specimenmm1
Disp_xSensor coordinate of gap sensor along faultmm
Dmat_eventSlip measured by gap sensormm16
Fs_AESampling frequency of AE sensor (10 MHz)Hz
Fs_slipSampling frequency of gap sensor (50 kHz)Hz
Fs_strainSampling frequency of strain gouge (1 MHz)Hz
NPmacroNormal pressure measurements at flat jacks^1MPa8
SGB_xSensor coordinate of biaxial strain gouge along faultmm
SGT_xSensor coordinate of biaxial strain gouge along faultmm
SSmacroMacroscopic shear stress measured at shear jackMPa
SnmatNormal stress measured by strain gouge^2MPa32
SpmatHorizontal stress ($σ_{xx}$) measured by strain gouge^2MPa32
Taumat2Shear stress change measured by biaxial strain gouge^2MPa32
Taumat3Shear stress change measured by triaxial strain gouge^2MPa32
TstartAbsolute start time of this event datasec
event_winlenEvent window length of this datasec
tmat_AE_eventTime vector of AEsec
tmat_macroTime vector of macroscopic datasec
tmat_slip_eventTime vector of slipsec
tmat_strain_eventTime vector of strainsec
  • ^1 The normal pressure applied by the flat jacks is converted to normal stress on the fault by a factor of 2/3, accounting for the contact area between the flat jacks and the rock specimen.

  • ^2 Strain measurements are calibrated at the start of the experiment when the top rock block is lifted, then the recording is initiated.

How to load

In matlab, load the data for the stick-slip, for example, event id 29 by A=load("eventdata_FB03_087_event29.mat").

Reference

Okubo, K., Yamashita, F., & Fukuyama, E. (2026) Dynamics of non-self-similar earthquakes illuminated by a controlled fault asperity, in revision.