Haiti Earthquake (12.01.2010) Surface Shift Estimation Using TerraSAR-X Data

Abstract

On the 12th of January 2010, Haiti was struck by a M7.0 earthquake; the hypocenter (18.443°N, 72.571°W, Depth 13 km) was located very close to the capital Port-au-Prince, causing considerable damage to buildings and infrastructure in the city and its conurbation and a high number of human fatalities. For evaluation of the co-seismic surface shift caused by this earthquake, especially at the Enriquillo- Plantain Garden fault zone (EPGF), TerraSAR-X Stripmap data from ascending and descending orbits were acquired and processed using InSAR and incoherent cross-correlation techniques. The results, azimuth and range offset maps, were then geocoded and corrected for Solid Earth Tides (SET) and atmospheric propagation delays, as described in Eineder et al [1] . Each data-set indicated strong surface deformations. By combining the different viewing geometries and performing a 3D-Inversion (ascending & descending crossing directions), 3D-motion vectors, describing the surface displacements caused by the earthquake could be generated. As a reference, pre-seismic and post-seismic interferometric pairs were processed accordingly. The results showed no indications for strong deformations and thus validated the results.