US Geological Survey, Menlo Park Finite-fault images of the spatial and temporal evolution of earthquake slip show that fault slip is spatially variable at all resolvable scales.
Evidence supports that rupture velocity is also spatially heterogeneous.
A dynamic description of the rupture process is particularly effective in capturing the variability of all the relevant source parameters without prescribing a priori their spatial distribution. We assume a slip-weakening model and prescribe the distribution of fracture energy that, together with the stress drop, controls the rupture velocity. We obtain physically consistent rupture models, which also adequately reflect the heterogeneity found in finite-source models of past earthquakes.