Early Post-Seismic Deformation Revealed After the Wushi (China) Earthquake (Mw = 7.1) Occurred on 22 January 2024

The Mw = 7.1 Wushi earthquake is the second-largest digitally recorded earthquake in the Tianshan seismic zone and provides an opportunity to explore the structural characteristics of the Tianshan seismic zone. In this study, we calculated the early (11-month) post-seismic deformation of the Wushi earthquake using Sentine-1 ascending and descending InSAR time series data. We found that the 11-month post-seismic deformation was dominated by afterslip along the up-dip continuation of the coseismic fault. The seismic moment released by the afterslip was Mw = 6.20, with 6.5% of that released by the mainshock. Moreover, we explored four slip models for the Mw = 5.7 aftershock that occurred on 29 January and found that this event primarily ruptured a thrust fault. However, determining the thrust fault type based on the current field investigations and InSAR data remains difficult. Finally, the Coulomb stress changes indicated that both the afterslip and aftershock were promoted by the Wushi earthquake.