Physics of Seismic Source Ⅲ. Statistical Mechanics of Earthquakes

The statistical mechanics of earthquakes adopts the concepts and methodology of statistical mechanics, especially the theory of critical phenomena, in studying the preparation, initiation, propagation and healing of earthquake rupture, which forms a new branch in the physics of seismic source in recent years. This article introduces to the fundamental concepts of the statistical mechanics of earthquakes. The introduction includes the seismic Hamiltonian, percolation model, earthquake rupture nucleation, and Burridge-Knopoff spring-block model. It is pointed out that some of the statistical mechanical models of earthquakes have a sound seismological basis. There is a smooth "transition" from the "classical" theory to the "modern" theory of seismic source.     

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...     

Physics of Seismic Source Ⅱ. Mechanics of Seismic Source

An earthquake is regarded as a fracture from the viewpoint of continuum mechanics, in which stress and strain play key roles in understanding the nature of a seismic source. This review briefly outlines the mechanics of a seismic source in terms of the dislocation model and crack model. The introduction includes the Coulomb failure criterion, static stress drop, dynamic stress drop, the Griffith criterion, and the scaling of source parameters. The selection of topics in the introduction emphasizes the application of seismic data, i.e., in practice, the mechanical parameters introduced here are measurable in the interpretation and analysis of seismic waveform data.     

The Seismic Risk Assessment and Seismic Zoning of the Hong Kong Region

The Hong Kong-Kowloon Block,which has been uplifted continually and is stable since the late Cretaceous-Paleogene period,is identified and determined as a potential source with a maximum credible magnitude of M=5.5,while the late Cretaceous-Paleogene fault basins located around the Hong Kong-Kowloon Block are determinated as a potential source with a maximum credible magnitude of M≥6.0 based on the characteristics of seismo-tectonic activities in Hong Kong and its adjacent regions.The attenuation law of peak ground acceleration(PGA)and standard response spectra of acceleration(β)with damping 5% underlain by basement were determined by comparing the Chinese continent with the western U.S.A.in the similarity of tectonic environment of continental earthquakes,potential source with credible seismic magnitude of 5.0-7.5,and considering ground motion saturation near the source.The near source attenuation model of acceleration and response spectrum also reflect the field of Intensity distribution in East Chi     

Focal Depth of Earthquakes in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and Its Tectonic Implication

In the previous work of the present study,moment tensors of 11 major earthquakes in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and its surrounding region from 1966 to 1980 are estimated by generalized inversion technique.The seismic source time function and focal depth are immediately determined in the inversion.The results indicated that all earthquakes investigated here are shallow events within the upper crust.The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of the distribution of focal depths of earthquakes in and near the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau from the above result,combining the focal depths of 78 significant earthquakes from 1964 to 1986,which are relocated individually by other authors,as well as to discuss its tectonic implication.     

Discussion on the Relation Between the Probabilistic Distribution of Magnitude in a Seismic Province and That in an Area with Potential Seismic Source

According to the joint probabilistic distribution model of magnitude and space,the author discusses the relationship between the probabilistic distribution of magnitude in a seismic province and that in an area with potential seismic sources.The results show that if the magnitude probabilistic distribution follows the truncated exponential form in a seismic province,there must be some potential source in which the magnitude probabilistic distribution does not conform to that form.The result is consistent with the concept of "characteristic earthquake" derived from the study of actual records of seismicity and the study of geology.The author suggests that the relationship between the probabilistic distribution of magnitude in a seismic province and that in a seismic potential area must be considered in the study of the analysis of seismicity,seismic zonation and engineering seismology,for the purpose of the evaluation of the probabilistic distribution of magnitude correctly in every area with potential s     

Seismic Network,Seismic Activity and Seismological Research of Vietnam

In this paper,a historical review of the seismic network of Vietnam and the ability of the network to monitor earthquakes is presented.The seismic activity of Vietnam as a country of high seismictiy in the last century and since the beginning of the new century is described.The current state of seismological research in Vietnam and cooperation with institutions outside of Vietnam is outlined.     

Study on Inelastic Attenuation and Source Parameters of the Shidian Swarm in 2001

Based on horizontal-component digital seismograms recorded on 6 stations of the Yunnan Regional Digital Network, we inversed the inelastic attenuation in the source region of the Shidian swarm using the Atkinson method and the site responses of the 6 stations 200km around the Shidian epicenters using the Moya method. The observational seismic waveform data were corrected by removing the propagation, instrument and site effects before the source parameters of the Shidian swarm in 2001 were determined using genetic algorithms. The results are as follows: (1) There is a linear relation between seismic moment and local magnitude. The seismic moment is between 1×10~ 12 and 10~ 14 N·m. The rupture radius of the seismic focus varies from 157m to 973m. The seismic moment and the rupture radius maintain a linear correlation. (2) The corner frequency increases as the seismic moment decreases. Based on the expression between corner frequency and seismic moment using least squares fitting, we can obtain the estimated value of the corner frequency. The time-varying value of the calculated corner frequency minus the estimated corner frequency shows that there were continuous high and low anomalies before the strong aftershocks. (3) The seismic stress drop is in the range of 0.07～1.55MPa. The stress drop seems independent of the local magnitude. The variation of stress drops is high before the occurrence of the strong aftershocks. (4) The depth of aftershocks is mostly in a range from 5km to 10km, which means that energy release of aftershocks is mainly concentrated in this range of depth.     

Q value of anelastic S-wave attenuation in Yunnan region

The study of seismic attenuation property is a major subject in seismology. Seismic waves recorded by seismic stations （seismographs） contain source effect, seismic wave propagation effect, site response of seismic stations and instrumental response. The path effect of seismic wave propagation, site response of seismic stations and instrumental response must be taken out in the study of source property with seismic data. The path effect of seismic wave propagation （seismic attenuation） involves an important influential factor, the anelastic attenuation of medium, which is measured with quality factor Q, apart from geometric attenuation with the distance. As a basic physical parameter of the Earth medium, Q value is essential for quantitative study of earthquakes and source property （e.g. determination of source parameters）, which is widely used in earthquake source physics and engineering seismology.     

Constraining the focal mechanism of the Lushan earthquake with observations of the Earth’s free oscillations

The amplitudes of the Earth's free oscillations have a close relationship to earthquake focal mechanisms. Focal mechanisms of large earthquakes can be well analyzed and constrained with observations of long period free oscillations. Although the 2013 Lushan earthquake was only moderately sized, observable spherical normal modes were excited and clearly observed by a superconductive gravimeter and a broadband seismometer. We compare observed free oscillations with synthetic normal modes corresponding to four different focal mechanisms for the Lushan earthquake. The results show that source parameters can be analyzed and constrained by spherical normal modes in a 2.3–5 mHz frequency band. The scalar seismic moment M0 has a major influence on the amplitudes of free oscillations; additionally, the strike, dip, rake and depth of the hypocenter have minor influences. We found that the synthetic modes corresponding to the focal mechanism determined by the Global Centroid Moment Tensor show agreement to the observed modes, suggesting that earthquake magnitudes predicted in this way can readily reflect the total energy released by the earthquake. The scalar seismic moment obtained by far-field body wave inversion is significantly underestimated. Focal mechanism solutions can be improved by joint inversion of far- and near-field data.     

Higher degree moment tensor inversion of Mani earthquake using far-field broadband recording

Breakthrough point source model, extended earthquake source model is used to calculate more seismic source parameters in this paper. We express seismic source using higher degree moment tensors, to reduce a large number terms originally presenting in higher degree moment tensor representation, Haskell rupture model is used. We inverted the source parameters of Mani earthquake in Tibet using broad-band body wave of 32 stations of Global Seismograph Network (GSN), the results show that it is a strike-slip fault, rupture direction is 75° , rupture duration is 19 s, the fault plan is f =77° , d =88° , l =0° , the auxiliary plane is f =347° , d =90° , l =178° , and the fault dimension is 47 km′ 28 km. These results will give new quantitative data for earth dynamics and have practical meaning for seismic source tomography research.     

Seismic risk analysis of coastal area of Pakistan

Estimation of seismic hazard for the fast developing coastal area of Pakistan is carried out using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. On the basis of seismotectonics and geology, eleven faults are recognized in five seismic provinces as potential hazard sources. Maximum magnitude potential for each of these sources is calculated. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) values at the seven coastal cities due to the maximum credible earthquake on the relevant source are also obtained. Cities of Gwadar and Ormara with acceleration values of 0.21g and 0.25g respec-tively fall in the high seismic risk area. Cities of Turbat and Karachi lie in low seismic risk area with acceleration values of less than 0.1g. The Probabilistic PGA maps with contour interval of 0.05g for 50 and 100 years return period with 90% probability of non-exceedance are also compiled.     

Study of the Non-Uniform Distribution of Earthquake Risk Within Potential Sources

Potential sources are aggregates of probable future epicenters.In this area,for source models currently,in common use for seismic risk analysis in China,the mean area of each potential source is about 3000-4000 km2.It is assumed that seismic risk has a uniform distribution within the range of each potential source,but studies have shown that the uniform distribution model to a large extent may give an underestimation of the seismic risk.In this paper,the relative distribution of historical epicenters in space within potential sources is discussed,a method is proposed to quantitatively describe the non-uniform distribution of strong earthquakes within potential sources,and some preliminary results are given.By using the results of this paper,seismic risk analysis and seismic zonation can be made more scientific and more reasonable.     

Seismic response control of a complex structure using multiple MR dampers： experimental investigation

This paper presents an experimental investigation on semi-active seismic response control of a multistory building with a podium structure using multiple magnetorheological (MR) dampers manipulated by a logic control algorithm. The experiments are performed in three phases on a seismic simulator with a slender 12-story building model representing a multi-story building and a relatively stiff 3-story building model typifying a podium structure. The first phase of the investigation is to assess control performance of using three MR dampers to link the 3-story building to the 12-story building, in which seismic responses of the controlled two buildings are compared with those of the two buildings without any connection and with rigid connection. The second phase is to investigate reliability of the semi-active control system and robustness of the logic control algorithm when 2 out of 3 MR dampers fail and when the electricity supply to MR dampers is completely stopped. The last phase is to examine sensitivity of semi-active control performance of two buildings to change in ground excitation. The experimental results show that multiple MR dampers with the logic control algorithm can achieve a significant reduction in seismic responses of both buildings. The proposed semi-active control system is of high reliability and good robustness.     

Seismic Zonation of Central- Southern Hunan Province, China

Based on basic data used in compiling the Zonation Map of Earthquake Ground Motion Parameters in China, recent research on seismic safety assessment for engineering sites in central-southern Hunan Province, the new attenuation relationships of moderate earthquakes and the background seismicity data obtained by modern instrumental earthquake records since 1970, a new result of seismic zonation of central-southern Hunan Province is provided. The result shows that the area with PGA=0.05g has obviously increased in the new map compared with the previous one and is relatively consistent with the seismic disaster characteristics of moderate earthquakes that took place in the central-southern part of Hunan in recent years. This result will benefit the research and compilation of a new-generation seismic zonation map of earthquake ground motion parameters and the seismic hazard assessment in the moderate earthquake active regions in the central and eastern part of China.     

Moment tensor inversion of small to moderate earthquakes in the Capital Region in 2004

The moment tensor solutions of 51 small to moderate earthquakes occurred in the Capital Region in the year of 2004 are obtained by inverting the broadband waveform data. Accordingly, other source parameters, such as scalar seismic moments, moment magnitudes, double-couple （DC） components and compensated-linear-vector-dipole （CLVD） components, are determined as well as fault parameters and stress-axis parameters. The inverted results are evaluated by groups of numerical tests.     

Preliminary Study on Probabilistic Prediction of Seismic Hazard in a Period of 10 Years

Many uncertainty factors need be dealt with in the prediction of seismic hazard for a 10-year period.Restricted by these uncertainties,the result of prediction is also uncertain to a certain extent,so the probabilistic analysis method of seismic hazard should be adopted.In consideration of the inhomogeneity of the time,location,and magnitude of future earthquakes and the probabilistic combination of the background of long-term seismic hazard(geology,geophysical field,etc.)and the precursors of earthquake occurrence,a model of probabilistic prediction of seismic hazard in a period of 10 years s proposed.Considering the inhomogeneity of data and earthquake precursors for different regions in China,a simplified model is also proposed in order to satisfy the needs of different regions around the country.A trial in North China is used to discuss the application of the model.The method proposed in this paper can be used in the probabilistic prediction of seismic hazard in a period of 10 years.According to the     

Amplitude Ratio of Regional Seismic Phases: An Efficient Indicator of Thermal State of the Lithosphere

By analyzing seismograms of short period records at the Beijing SeismoJogicaJ Observatory, the present paper investigates the amplitude ratio of seismic phases. The results indicate that the amplitude ratio of Sn/Lg is correlated with the lithosphere structure, the thermal state, and strong earthquake occurrence in the region the seismic rays pass through. The significance of such a correlation in the study on the genesis and prediction of strong earthquakes is discussed.     

The inversion of anelastic coefficient, source parameters and site respond using genetic algorithm

It gradually becomes a common work using large seismic wave data to obtain source parameters, such as seismic moment, break radius, stress drop, with completing of digital seismic network in China (Hough, et al, 1999; Bindi, et al, 2001). These parameters are useful on earthquake prediction and seismic hazard analysis. Although the computation methods of source parameters are simple in principle and the many research works have been done, it is not easy to obtain the parameters accurately. Th…