Constraining Shear Strength of Fault Damage Zone Using Geodetic Data and Numerical Simulation

Shear strength of damage zone, representing the stress threshold for rupture initiation, is a critical parameter in faulting mechanics. Despite its significance, the damage‐zone's shear strength has not been estimated in natural earthquake ruptures. Here we employed coseismic deformation and strain, kinematic slip model, and finite element modeling to determine the elastic properties and peak shear stress of coseismic damage zones along the 2021 Mw 7.4 Maduo earthquake. Through the analysis of the lowest shear stress resulting in surface ruptures and the highest stress without surface rupture, we constrained the strength within a range of 7–17 MPa. Our result is consistent with strength (5–16 MPa) of sandstone samples from laboratory tests, demonstrating the validity of this estimation. Although factors such as fault maturity and confining pressure influence strength variation, the strength can directly reflect the stress threshold required for macroscopic surface rupture formation in fault damage zones dominated by sandstone. Plain Language Summary Shear strength of a fault damage zone inform us its ability to withstand shear stress before surface rupture occurs. This information often provides insights into the earthquakes rupture hazards near the Earth's surface. Natural earthquakes provide a perfect opportunity for us to address the question of “what is the shear strength of a fault damage zone.” To this end, we require a set of comparative references: the utmost shear stress that a damage zone can withstand without surface rupture and the minimal one necessary for the zone to generate surface rupture. In this investigation, we studied the 2021 Maduo earthquake because it had multiple distinct surface rupture segments in some places but not in others. By comparing shear stress in these segments, we could figure out how strong the damage zones were. We used real observations and numerical simulations to estimate how much stress these damage zones can withstand. Our results indicate that, for damage zones embedded in intact sandstone with a Young's modulus of 15 GPa, its strength ranges from 7 to 17 MPa. Significantly, our study is the first to reveal the shear strength of damage zone from a nutural earthquake using geodetic data. Key Points Shear modulus and shear stress for coseismic damage zone were determined using coseismic deformation and finite element model Estimated shear strength from overlap range of coseismic stress between surface rupture an