Deformation due to the 17 August 1999 Izmit, Turkey, earthquake measured from SPOT images

The geometry of the ruptured areas and the coseismic slip distribution data are key to highlighting the behavior of seismic faults. This information is generally retrieved from field investigations and geodetic measurements or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. Here we show that SPOT images can also be used to accurately map the fault zone and to determine the slip distribution by subpixel correlation of images acquired before and after an earthquake. The measured slip includes the contribution of possible distributed shear that might not be clearly expressed in surface ruptures and smoothes out possible along-strike variability due to near-surface fault complexities. We apply the technique to the M_s = 7.4, 1999, Izmit earthquake. Our results reveal a