We analyze three‐dimensional GPS coordinate time series from continuously operating stations in Nepal and South Tibet and calculate the initial 1 year postseismic displacements. We first investigate models of poroelastic rebound, afterslip, and viscoelastic relaxation individually and then attempt to resolve the trade‐offs between their contributions by evaluating the misfit between observed and simulated displacements. We compare kinematic inversions for distributed afterslip with stress‐driven afterslip models. The modeling results show that no single mechanism satisfactorily explains near‐ and far‐field postseismic deformation following the Gorkha earthquake. When considering contributions from all three mechanisms, we favor a combination of viscoelastic relaxation and afterslip alone, as poroelastic rebound always worsens the misfit. The combined model does not improve the data misfit significantly, but the inverted afterslip distribution is more physically plausible. The inverted afterslip favors slip within the brittle‐ductile transition zone downdip of the coseismic rupture and fills the small gap between the mainshock and largest aftershock slip zone, releasing only 7% of the coseismic moment. Our preferred model also illuminates the laterally heterogeneous rheological structure between India and the South Tibet. The transient and steady state viscosities of the upper mantle beneath Tibet are constrained to be greater than 1018 Pa s and 1019 Pa s, whereas the Indian upper mantle has a high viscosity ≥1020 Pa s. The viscosity in the lower crust of southern Tibet shows a clear trade‐off with its southward extent and thickness, suggesting an upper bound value of ~8 × 1019 Pa s for its steady state viscosity.

The detailed kinematic pattern of the Ordos block, North China and its surrounding rift systems remains uncertain, mainly due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of the Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity data and the lack of GPS stations in this region. In this study, we have obtained a new and dense velocity field by processing GPS data primarily collected from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China and from other GPS networks between 1998 and 2014. The GPS velocities within the Ordos block can be interpreted as counterclockwise rotation of the block about the Euler pole with respect to the Eurasia plate. Velocity profiles across the graben-bounding faults show relatively rapid rightlateral strike-slip motion along the Yinchuan graben, with a rate of 0.8∼2.6 mm/a

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On 21 May 2021, an Mw 7.4 left-lateral strike-slip earthquake occurred within the Bayan Har block in the Tibetan plateau. To learn about the source rupture process, we collected the teleseismic waveforms and utilized the backprojection method to investigate the rupture kinematics of the earthquake. The results indicate that the earthquake was a bilateral rupture event with asymmetric rupture velocities. The rupture velocity in the east of the epicenter was uniform and in the range of 2.72–3.67 km/s, whereas, in the west, it was in the range of 1.39–1.78 km/s in the first 20 km and then increased to 2.82–3.17 km/s. The slip distribution constrained by the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Positioning System displacements clearly reveals kinematic coseismic slip in greater detail, which makes up for the limitations of the backprojection method. Two main asperities in the east verify the results of the backprojection method. The rupture depth in the west was slightly shallower than that in the east, which may be the reason for the asymmetry of rupture velocities. The initial rupture point was updated based on the asymmetric velocities and geodetic slip distribution. The multiple-point-source moment tensors based on the rupture velocities and new initial rupture point not only match the fault geometries determined by relocated aftershocks but also fit well with the released energy distribution, which proves the asymmetry of rupture velocities.

The frictional properties and slip behaviors of subduction thrusts play a key role in seismic and tsunami hazard assessment, especially in weakly coupled “seismic gaps”. Here, we rely on GPS observations in the Shumagin Gap of the Aleutian subduction zone to derive the slip distribution of the 2020 Mw 7.8 Simeonof Island, Alaska earthquake and of the subsequent afterslip during the first 87-day period. Our modeling results show that the mainshock ruptured at depths of ∼30–40 km beneath Simeonof Island. Kinematic and stress-driven models indicate that the afterslip occurred both updip and downdip of the mainshock rupture. Physically plausible locking models derived from interseismic GPS velocities suggest that the 2020 Simeonof and 2021 Mw 8.2 Chignik earthquakes ruptured persistent asperities on the subduction thrust. We infer that there are several additional persistent asperities at depths of 20–50 km west ∼157°W. However, it is still uncertain whether there are additional locked asperities at shallow depths because of the current lack of geodetic observations close to the trench.