Source process of the 14 November 2001 western Kunlun Mountain M S=8.1 earthquake

Based on digital teleseismic P-wave seismograms recorded by 28 long-period seismograph stations of the global seismic network, source process of the November 14, 2001 western Kunlun Mountain M _S=8.1 (M _W=7.8) earthquake is estimated by a new inversion method. The result shows that the earthquake is a very complex rupture event. The source rupture initiated at the hypocenter (35.95°N, 90.54°E, focal depth 10 km, by USGS NEIC), and propagated to the west at first. Then, in several minutes to a hundred minutes and over a large spatial range, several rupture growth points emerged in succession at the eastern end and in the central part of the finite fault. And then the source rupture propagated from these rupture growth points successively and, finally, stopped in the area within 50 km to the east of the centroid position (35.80°N, 92.91°E, focal depth 15 km, by Harvard CMT). The entire rupture lasted for 142 s, and the source process could be roughly separated into three stages: The first stage started at the 0 s and ended at the 52 s, lasting for 52 s and releasing approximately 24.4% of the total moment; The second stage started at the 55 s and ended at the 113 s, lasting for 58 s and releasing approximately 56.5% of the total moment; The third stage started at the 122 s and ended at the 142 s, lasting for 20 s and releasing approximately 19.1% of the total moment. The length of the ruptured fault plane is about 490 km. The maximum width of the ruptured fault plane is about 45 km. The rupture mainly occurred within 30 km in depth under the surface of the Earth. The average static slip in the underground rocky crust is about 1.2 m with the maximum static slip 3.6 m. The average static stress drop is about 5 MPa with the maximum static stress drop 18 MPa. The maximum static slip and the maximum stress drop occurred in an area within 50 km to the east of the centroid position. Foundation item: Joint Seismological Science Foundation of China (103066) and Foundation of the Seismic Pattern and Digital Seismic Data Application Research Office of Institute of Earthquake Science of the China Earthquake Administration.     

Source process of the 14 November 2001 western Kunlun Mountain M_S=8.1 earth-quake

Introduction On November 14, 2001, a great earthquake occurred in the western Kunlun Mountain area(Figure 1). The original time is 09h26min10.0s (UTC); the hypocentral location is 35.95°N,90.54°E; focal depth is 10 km from USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC);MS=8.1 from China Seismic Network and Mw=7.8 from Harvard and Earthquake Research Insti-tute (ERI), University of Tokyo. This earthquake, known as the western Kunlun Mountain earth-quake, is an extraord…     

Joint inversion of GNSS and teleseismic data for the rupture process of the 2017 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>w</Subscript>6.5 Jiuzhaigou,China, earthquake

The spatio-temporal slip distribution of the earthquake that occurred on 8 August 2017 in Jiuzhaigou, China, was estimated from the teleseismic body wave and near-field Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data (coseismic displacements and high-rate GPS data) based on a finite fault model. Compared with the inversion results from the teleseismic body waves, the near-field GNSS data can better restrain the rupture area, the maximum slip, the source time function, and the surface rupture. The results show that the maximum slip of the earthquake approaches 1.4 m, the scalar seismic moment is ~ 8.0 × 10¹⁸ N·m (M_w?≈?6.5), and the centroid depth is ~ 15 km. The slip is mainly driven by the left-lateral strike-slip and it is initially inferred that the seismogenic fault occurs in the south branch of the Tazang fault or an undetectable fault, a NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip fault, and belongs to one of the tail structures at the easternmost end of the eastern Kunlun fault zone. The earthquake rupture is mainly concentrated at depths of 5–15 km, which results in the complete rupture of the seismic gap left by the previous four earthquakes with magnitudes >?6.0 in 1973 and 1976. Therefore, the possibility of a strong aftershock on the Huya fault is low. The source duration is ~ 30 s and there are two major ruptures. The main rupture occurs in the first 10 s, 4 s after the earthquake; the second rupture peak arrives in ~ 17 s. In addition, the Coulomb stress study shows that the epicenter of the earthquake is located in the area where the static Coulomb stress change increased because of the 12 May 2017 M_w7.9 Wenchuan, China, earthquake. Therefore, the Wenchuan earthquake promoted the occurrence of the 8 August 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake.     

Moment tensor inversion and source rupture process of the September 27, 2003 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>S</Subscript>=7.9 earthquake occurred in the border area of China,Russia and Mongolia

We conducted moment tensor inversion and studied source rupture process for M _S=7.9 earthquake occurred in the border area of China, Russia and Mongolia on September 27 2003, by using digital teleseismic P-wave seismograms recorded by long-period seismograph stations of the global seismic network. Considering the aftershock distribution and the tectonic settings around the epicentral area, we propose that the M _S=7.9 earthquake occurred on a fault plane with the strike of 127°, the dip of 79° and the rake of 171°. The rupture process inversion result of M _S=7.9 earthquake shows that the total rupture duration is about 37 s, the scalar moment tensor is M ₀=0.97×10²⁰ N·m. Rupture mainly occurred on the shallow area with 110 km long and 30 km wide, the location in which the rupture initiated is not where the main rupture took place, and the area with slip greater than 0.5 m basically lies within 35 km deep middle-crust under the earth surface. The maximum static slip is 3.6 m. There are two distinct areas with slip larger than 2.0 m. We noticed that when the rupture propagated towards northwest and closed to the area around the M _S=7.3 hypocenter, the slip decreased rapidly, which may indicate that the rupture process was stopped by barriers. The consistence of spatial distribution of slip on the fault plane with the distribution of aftershocks also supports that the rupture is a heterogeneous process owing to the presence of barriers.     

Preliminary analysis on the source properties and seismogenic structure of the 2017 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>s</Subscript>7.0 Jiuzhaigou earthquake

At GMT time 13:19, August 8, 2017, an M_s7.0 earthquake struck the Jiuzhaigou region in Sichuan Province, China, causing severe damages and casualties. To investigate the source properties, seismogenic structures, and seismic hazards, we systematically analyzed the tectonic environment, crustal velocity structure in the source region, source parameters and rupture process, Coulomb failure stress changes, and 3-D features of the rupture plane of the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. Our results indicate the following: (1) The Jiuzhaigou earthquake occurred on an unmarked fault belonging to the transition zone of the east Kunlun fault system and is located northwest of the Huya fault. (2) Both the mainshock and aftershock rupture zones are located in a region where crustal seismic velocity changes dramatically. Southeast to the source region, shear wave velocity at the middle to lower crust is significantly low, but it rapidly increases northeastward and lies close to the background velocity across the rupture fault. (3) The aftershock zone is narrow and distributes along the northwest-southeast trend, and most aftershocks occur within a depth range of 5–20 km. (4) The focal mechanism of the Jiuzhaigou earthquake indicates a left-lateral strike-slip fault, with strike, dip, and rake angles of 152°, 74° and 8°, respectively. The hypocenter depth measures 20 km, whereas the centroid depth is about 6 km. The co-seismic rupture mainly concentrates at depths of 3–13 km, with a moment magnitude (M_w) of 6.5. (5) The co-seismic rupture also strengthens the Coulomb failure stress at the two ends of the rupture fault and the east segment of the Tazang fault. Aftershocks relocation results together with geological surveys indicate that the causative fault is a near vertical fault with notable spatial variations: dip angle varies within 66°–89° from northwest to southeast and the average dip angle measures ~84°. The results of this work are of fundamental importance for further studies on the source characteristics, tectonic environment, and seismic hazard evaluation of the Jiuzhaigou earthquake.     

Estimating the source parameters for the M<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">W</Emphasis></Subscript> 7.6 April 20, 2006 Olyutorskii earthquake from long period <Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis>-wave records made by the worldwide network

The source parameters of the M _W = 7.6 Olyutorskii earthquake were estimated using the moments of the slip rate function with degrees 1 and 2. The moments were estimated from broadband P-wave records at 52 stations of the worldwide network. The first step was to find a function S(t) for each station; this function is an apparent source time function, i.e., the P-wave slip as radiated by the source toward a station under consideration. The method of empirical Green’s functions was used to estimate S(t). The next step was to calculate the moments of S(t) of degrees 1 and 2 over time and to set up relevant equations to be solved by least squares for the unknown source moments. The horizontal linear source was used as a nonparametric model for calculating the source moments. Haskell’s parametric model was used for further interpretation of the source moments. The resulting estimates are as follows: the source centroid was 13–25 km southwest of the epicenter, the source was 105–120 km long, the source strike was 222°–228°, the rupture velocity was 2.7–3.0 km/s, and the total radiation duration was 24–27 s. These estimates indicate a bilateral rupture dominated by a southwestward sense of rupture propagation. The source characteristics are consistent with the aftershock area geometry and with the focal mechanism, as well as with surface breakage as observed by geologists in the field.     

Spatial and temporal rupture process of the January 26, 2001, Gujarat, India, M S=7.8 earthquake

The source parameters, such as moment tensor, focal mechanism, source time function (STF) and temporal-spatial rupture process, were obtained for the January 26, 2001, India, M _S=7.8 earthquake by inverting waveform data of 27 GDSN stations with epicentral distances less than 90°. Firstly, combining the moment tensor inversion, the spatial distribution of intensity, disaster and aftershocks and the orientation of the fault where the earthquake lies, the strike, dip and rake of the seismogenic fault were determined to be 92°, 58° and 62°, respectively. That is, this earthquake was a mainly thrust faulting with the strike of near west-east and the dipping direction to south. The seismic moment released was 3.5×10²⁰ Nm, accordingly, the moment magnitude M _W was calculated to be 7.6. And then, 27 P-STFs, 22 S-STFs and the averaged STFs of them were determined respectively using the technique of spectra division in frequency domain and the synthetic seismogram as Green’s functions. The analysis of the STFs suggested that the earthquake was a continuous event with the duration time of 19 s, starting rapidly and ending slowly. Finally, the temporal-spatial distribution of the slip on the fault plane was imaged from the obtained P-STFs and S-STFs using an time domain inversion technique. The maximum slip amplitude on the fault plane was about 7 m. The maximum stress drop was 30 MPa, and the average one over the whole rupture area was 7 MPa. The rupture area was about 85 km long in the strike direction and about 60 km wide in the down-dip direction, which, equally, was 51 km deep in the depth direction. The rupture propagated 50 km eastwards and 35 km westwards. The main portion of the rupture area, which has the slip amplitude greater than 0.5 m, was of the shape of an ellipse, its major axis oriented in the slip direction of the fault, which indicated that the rupture propagation direction was in accordance with the fault slip direction. This phenomenon is popular for strike-slip faulting, but rather rare for thrust faulting. The eastern portion of the rupture area above the initiation point was larger than the western portion below the initiation point, which was indicative of the asymmetrical rupture. In other words, the rupturing was kind of unilateral from west to east and from down to up. From the snapshots of the slip-rate variation with time and space, the slip rate reached the largest at the 4th second, that was 0.2 m/s, and the rupture in this period occurred only around the initiation point. At the 6th second, the rupture around the initiation point nearly stopped, and started moving outwards. The velocity of the westward rupture was smaller than that of the eastward rupture. Such rupture behavior like a circle mostly stopped near the 15th second. After the 16th second, only some patches of rupture distributed in the outer region. From the snapshots of the slip variation with time and space, the rupture started at the initiation point and propagated outwards. The main rupture on the area with the slip amplitude greater than 5 m extended unilaterally from west to east and from down to up between the 6th and the 10th seconds, and the western segment extended a bit westwards and downwards between the 11th and the 13th seconds. The whole process lasted about 19 s. The rupture velocity over the whole rupture process was estimated to be 3.3 km/s. Foundation item: 973 Project (G1998040705) from Ministry of Science and Technology, P. R. China, and the National Science Foundation of China under grant No.49904004. Contribution No. 02FE2026, Institute of Geophysics, China Seismological Bureau.     

2016年印尼苏门答腊岛海域MW7.8地震震源运动学特征

根据中国和全球地震台网记录的波形记录,采用W震相矩张量反演、反投影分析及有限断层模型反演方法,研究了2016年3月2日印尼7.8级地震破裂过程,分析讨论印尼地震震源运动学特征.结果表明：此地震为一次对称的双侧破裂走滑型事件,北北东─南南西向的断层节面（走向5°/倾角85°）为发震断层面.标量地震矩约6.19×10²⁰ Nm,矩震级为7.79,最大的滑动量约11 m,位于破裂起始点北东,沿着断层走向约30 km处.破裂平均速度2.0~2.2 km·s^-1,破裂持续时间35 s,破裂在5~25 s内释放的能量,约占总能量的97%.最终形成了总长度90 km左右的断层.印尼地震具有破裂持续时间短、破裂速度慢、高滑动能量带相对集中等显著特点.本研究对进一步增进海洋岩石圈地震的震源特性认识有重要参考意义.     

Moment tensor inversion and source rupture process of the September 27, 2003 M S=7.9 earthquake occurred in the border area of China, Russia and Mongolia

We conducted moment tensor inversion and studied source rupture process for M _S=7.9 earthquake occurred in the border area of China, Russia and Mongolia on September 27 2003, by using digital teleseismic P-wave seismograms recorded by long-period seismograph stations of the global seismic network. Considering the aftershock distribution and the tectonic settings around the epicentral area, we propose that the M _S=7.9 earthquake occurred on a fault plane with the strike of 127°, the dip of 79° and the rake of 171°. The rupture process inversion result of M _S=7.9 earthquake shows that the total rupture duration is about 37 s, the scalar moment tensor is M ₀=0.97×10²⁰ N·m. Rupture mainly occurred on the shallow area with 110 km long and 30 km wide, the location in which the rupture initiated is not where the main rupture took place, and the area with slip greater than 0.5 m basically lies within 35 km deep middle-crust under the earth surface. The maximum static slip is 3.6 m. There are two distinct areas with slip larger than 2.0 m. We noticed that when the rupture propagated towards northwest and closed to the area around the M _S=7.3 hypocenter, the slip decreased rapidly, which may indicate that the rupture process was stopped by barriers. The consistence of spatial distribution of slip on the fault plane with the distribution of aftershocks also supports that the rupture is a heterogeneous process owing to the presence of barriers.     

The 2014 Kefalonia Doublet (<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>W</Subscript>6.1 and <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>W</Subscript>6.0), Central Ionian Islands,Greece: Seismotectonic Implications along the Kefalonia Transform Fault Zone

The 2014 Kefalonia earthquake sequence started on 26 January with the first main shock (M_W6.1) and aftershock activity extending over 35 km, much longer than expected from the causative fault segment. The second main shock (M_W6.0) occurred on 3 February on an adjacent fault segment, where the aftershock distribution was remarkably sparse, evidently encouraged by stress transfer of the first main shock. The aftershocks from the regional catalog were relocated using a 7-layer velocity model and station residuals, and their distribution evidenced two adjacent fault segments striking almost N-S and dipping to the east, in full agreement with the centroid moment tensor solutions, constituting segments of the Kefalonia Transform Fault (KTF). The KTF is bounded to the north by oblique parallel smaller fault segments, linking KTF with its northward continuation, the Lefkada Fault.     

Frequency-dependent rupture process,stress change,and seismogenic mechanism of the 25 April 2015 Nepal Gorkha <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>w</Subscript> 7.8 earthquake

On 25 April 2015, an M _w 7.8 earthquake occurred on the Main Himalaya Thrust fault with a dip angle of ~ 7° about 77 km northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal. This Nepal Gorkha event is the largest one on the Himalayan thrust belt since 1950. Here we use the compressive sensing method in the frequency domain to track the seismic radiation and rupture process of this event using teleseismic P waves recorded by array stations in North America. We also compute the distribution of static shear stress changes on the fault plane from a coseismic slip model. Our results indicate a dominant east-southeastward unilateral rupture process from the epicenter with an average rupture speed of ~3 km s^?1. Coseismic radiation of this earthquake shows clear frequency-dependent features. The lower frequency (0.05–0.3 Hz) radiation mainly originates from large coseismic slip regions with negative coseismic shear stress changes. In comparison, higher frequency (0.3–0.6 Hz) radiation appears to be from the down-dip part around the margin of large slip areas, which has been loaded and presents positive coseismic shear stress changes. We propose an asperity model to interpret this Nepal earthquake sequence and compare the frequency-dependent coseismic radiation with that in subduction zones. Such frequency-dependent radiation indicates the depth-varying frictional properties on the plate interface of the Nepal section in the main Himalaya thrust system, similar to previous findings in oceanic subduction zones. Our findings provide further evidence of the spatial correlation between changes of static stress status on the fault plane and the observed frequency-dependent coseismic radiation during large earthquakes. Our results show that the frequency-dependent coseismic radiation is not only found for megathrust earthquakes in the oceanic subduction environment, but also holds true for thrust events in the continental collision zone.     

Spatial and temporal rupture process of the January 26, 2001, Gujarat, India, M_S=7.8 earthquake

Introduction An earthquake of MS=7.8 occurred near the Gujarat of India on January 26, 2001, which was one of the most deadly earthquakes since there was the record in the Indian history (Bendick, et al, 2001; Gupta, et al, 2001). The USGS of USA determined the origin time of the earthquake to be 3h16min41s (UTC), and the epicenter location to be 70.32篍, 23.40篘. Shortly after the earthquake, the moment tensor solutions or focal mechanisms and other related parameters were offered by s…     

Constraints on rupture speed of the 2001 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>S</Subscript> 8.1 West Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake by co-seismic surface rupture slip displacements based on the slip-weakening mechanism with frictional undershoot involved

With co-seismic surface rupture slip displacements provided by the field observation for the 2001 M_S8.1 West Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake, this paper estimates the rupture speed on the main faulting segment with a long straight fault trace on the surface based on a simple slip-weakening rupture model, in which the frictional overshoot or undershoot are involved in consideration of energy partition during the earthquake faulting. In contrast to the study of Bouchon and Vallée, in which the rupture propagation along the main fault could exceed the local shear-wave speed, perhaps reach the P-wave speed on a certain section of fault, our results show that, under a slip-weakening assumption combined with a frictional undershoot (partial stress drop model), average rupture speed should be equal to or less than the Rayleigh wave speed with a high seismic radiation efficiency, which is consistent with the result derived by waveform inversion and the result estimated from source stress field. Associated with the surface rupture mechanism, such as partial stress drop (frictional undershoot) associated with the apparent stress, an alternative rupture mechanism based on the slip-weakening model has also been discussed.     

Source process of M_s6.4 earthquake in Ning’er, Yunnan in 2007

The moment tensor solution, source time function and spatial-temporal rupture process of the MS6.4 earthquake, which occurred in Ning’er, Yunnan Province, are obtained by inverting the broadband waveform data of 20 global stations. The inverted result shows that the scalar seismic moment is 5.51×1018 Nm, which corresponds to a moment magnitude of MW 6.4. The correspondent best double couple solution results in two nodal planes of strike 152°/dip 54°/rake 166°, and strike 250°/dip 79°/ rake 37°, respectively...     

Variation of stress during the rupture process of the 1995 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>L</Subscript>=4.1 Shacheng,Hebei, China,earthquake sequence

According to the rupture dynamics of earthquakes, variations of the apparent stress and the difference between the static stress drop and the dynamic stress drop during the rupture of earthquakes are analyzed for the July 20, 1995 M _L=4.1 Shacheng, Hebei, China, earthquake sequence. Results obtained show that the apparent stress for main-shock is about 5 MPa, and the average apparent stress for aftershocks 0.047 MPa. During the rupture of the main-shock, the dynamic stress drop is approximately 1.6 times greater than the static stress drop with the difference of nearly 2.7 MPa. The dynamic stress drop is less than the static stress drop for all aftershocks with the average difference of ?0.75 MPa. Therefore, when the mainshock occurs the final stress on the focal fault is higher than the dynamic frictional stress, corresponding to that the fault is abruptly locked. When the aftershocks occur the final stress on the focal fault is lower than the dynamic frictional stress, corresponding to that the fault overshoots. It can be seen from the above results that there could be some differences in the physic processes between the mainshock and the aftershocks.     

2008年3月21日新疆于田MS7.3 地震破裂过程研究

利用IRIS全球地震台网30°—90°的长周期P波记录, 反演了2008年3月21日新疆于田M_S7.3地震的破裂过程, 得到了此次地震的破裂时空图像, 并初步分析了余震分布与主震断层滑动量分布的关系. 结果表明, 此次地震是一个破裂尺度长100 km、 宽20 km的破裂过程; 破裂持续时间约为40 s, 在第13 s时地震矩释放速率达到峰值, 断层面上一次大的破裂行为几乎构成了整个地震的破裂过程. 地震所释放的标量地震矩为4.23×1019 N·m, 其矩震级为M_W7.02. 由主震断层静态滑动量分布图可以看出, 整个破裂区以正断左旋走滑为主, 显示出双侧破裂特征, 最大滑动量为151 cm, 位于初始破裂点沿断层出露地表处. 精定位后的余震在断层面上的投影结果显示, 80%以上M_L4.0—4.9余震和全部M_L≥5.0余震均发生在初始破裂点附近区域及其南西方向, 位于主震破裂滑动位移量迅速减小的区域, 反映了震源区介质强度的不均匀性.      

利用区域宽频带数据反演鲁甸MS6.5级地震震源破裂过程

基于有限断层模型反演方法,我们利用区域宽频带数据反演得到了2014年8月3日鲁甸M_S6.5级地震的震源破裂过程.反演结果显示：此次地震的发震断层走向为北北西向,破裂主要以左旋走滑为主,位移主要发生在震源左上方,最大滑动量为0.7 m,模型显示断层破裂可能接近地表,破裂长度约10 km.此次地震释放的标量地震矩为1.97×10¹⁸ N·m,相当于矩震级为M_w 6.1,地震能量主要在前15 s释放.鲁甸地震有四个显著的特点：（1）位移主要集中在浅部,从11 km起破点开始迅速向上传播,大部分位于10 km以上且最大位移位于深度3 km处,从模型来看,破裂可能接近地表,因此地表震动较为强烈;（2）应力降比较大,计算显示释放的同震静态应力降约为2.8 MPa;（3）破裂速度较快,在地表附近超过了2.5 km·s^-1;（4）主震可能发生在一个共轭断层系上.这四个特点可能是导致此次地震造成如此重大人员伤亡和财产损失的最重要的原因.     

2020年6月23日墨西哥MW7.4地震震源特征

2020年6月23日15时29分04秒（UTC）,在墨西哥南部瓦哈卡州发生了一次震级为M_W7.4的地震,我们利用全球地震台网（GSN）和国际数字地震台网联盟（FDSN）台网的长周期和宽频带P波数据反演分析了这次地震的震源机制、震源时间函数以及时空破裂过程.根据反演结果,这次地震的矩心震中位于15.96°N,95.89°W,矩心深度约为22 km;地震持续15 s左右,释放地震矩1.24×10²⁰ N·m,相当于矩震级M_W7.4;破裂过程比较简单,仅有一个走向和倾向方向尺度相当的凹凸体错动,最大位错达8.1 m,位于21 km深处.凹凸体破裂主要沿断层的滑动方向呈双侧破裂,两个优势破裂方向在地表投影的方位分别位于60°和270°左右.综合构造背景、震源位置、余震分布、震源机制以及时空破裂过程,我们相信这次地震是发生在北美大陆板块和太平洋海底板块相互作用的结果.海底板块朝着大约60°左右的方位运动,以大约22°的倾角插入大陆板块,造成一个凹凸体错动,形成了这次地震.     

A study of Guptkashi,Uttarakhand earthquake of 6 February 2017 (<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">w</Emphasis></Subscript>5.3) in the Himalayan arc and implications for ground motion estimation

The 2017 Guptkashi earthquake occurred in a segment of the Himalayan arc with high potential for a strong earthquake in the near future. In this context, a careful analysis of the earthquake is important as it may shed light on source and ground motion characteristics during future earthquakes. Using the earthquake recording on a single broadband strong-motion seismograph installed at the epicenter, we estimate the earthquake’s location (30.546° N, 79.063° E), depth (H?=?19 km), the seismic moment (M₀?=?1.12×10¹⁷ Nm, M _w 5.3), the focal mechanism (φ?=?280°, δ?=?14°, λ?=?84°), the source radius (a?=?1.3 km), and the static stress drop (Δσ _s ~22 MPa). The event occurred just above the Main Himalayan Thrust. S-wave spectra of the earthquake at hard sites in the arc are well approximated (assuming ω^?2 source model) by attenuation parameters Q(f)?=?500f^0.9, κ?=?0.04 s, and f_max?=?infinite, and a stress drop of Δσ?=?70 MPa. Observed and computed peak ground motions, using stochastic method along with parameters inferred from spectral analysis, agree well with each other. These attenuation parameters are also reasonable for the observed spectra and/or peak ground motion parameters in the arc at distances ≤?200 km during five other earthquakes in the region (4.6?≤?M _w ?≤?6.9). The estimated stress drop of the six events ranges from 20 to 120 MPa. Our analysis suggests that attenuation parameters given above may be used for ground motion estimation at hard sites in the Himalayan arc via the stochastic method.     

Source Characteristics of the 22 January 2003 M w?=?7.5 Tecom��n, Mexico, Earthquake: New Insights

Aftershock locations, source parameters and slip distribution in the coupling zone between the overriding North American and subducted Rivera and Cocos plates were calculated for the 22 January 2003 Tecomán earthquake. Aftershock locations lie north of the El Gordo Graben with a northwest-southeast trend along the coast and superimposed on the rupture areas of the 1932 (M _w?=?8.2) and 1995 (M _w?=?8.0) earthquakes. The Tecomán earthquake ruptured the northwest sector of the Colima gap, however, half of the gap remains unbroken. The aftershock area has a rectangular shape of 42?±?2 by 56?±?2?km with a shallow dip of roughly 12° of the Wadati-Benioff zone. Fault geometry calculated with the Náb??lek (1984) inversion procedure is: (strike, dip, rake)?=?(277°, 27°, 78°). From the teleseimic body wave spectra and assuming a circular fault model, we estimated source duration of 20?±?2?s, a stress drop of 5.4?±?2.5?MPa and a seismic moment of 2.7?±?.7?×?10²⁰?Nm. The spatial slip distribution on the fault plane was estimated using new additional near field strong motion data (54?km from the epicenter). We confirm their main conclusions, however we found four zones of seismic moment release clearly separated. One of them, not well defined before, is located toward the coast down dip. This observation is the result of adding new data in the inversion. We calculated a maximum slip of 3.2?m, a source duration of 30?s and a seismic moment of 1.88?×?10²⁰?Nm.