Coda Q in the Kachchh Basin, Western India Using Aftershocks of the Bhuj Earthquake of January 26, 2001

Q_C-estimates of Kachchh Basin in western India have been obtained in a high frequency range from 1.5 to 24.0 Hz using the aftershock data of Bhuj earthquake of January 26, 2001 recorded within an epicentral distance of 80 km. The decay of coda waves of 30 sec window from 186 seismograms has been analysed in four lapse time windows, adopting the single backscattering model. The study shows that Q_c is a function of frequency and increases as frequency increases. The frequency dependent Q_c relations obtained for four lapse-time windows are: Q_c=82 f^1.17 (20–50 sec), Q_c=106 f^1.11 (30–60 sec), Q_c=126f^1.03 (40–70 sec) and Q_c=122f^1.02 (50–80 sec). These empirical relations represent the average attenuation properties of a zone covering the surface area of about 11,000, 20,000, 28,000 and 38,000 square km and a depth extent of about 60, 80, 95, 110 km, respectively. With increasing window length, the degree of frequency dependence, n, decreases marginally from 1.17 to 1.02, whereas Q₀ increases significantly from 82 to 122. At lower frequencies up to 6 Hz, Q_c⁻¹ of Kachchh Basin is in agreement with other regions of the world, whereas at higher frequencies from 12 to 24 Hz it is found to be low.     

Attenuation of coda waves in the Northeastern Region of India

Coda wave attenuation quality factor Qc is estimated in the northeastern region of India using 45 local earthquakes recorded by regional seismic network. The quality factor Qc was estimated using the single backscattering model modified by Sato (J Phys Earth 25:27–41, 1977), in the frequency range 1–18 Hz. The attenuation and frequency dependence for different paths and the correlation of the results with geotectonics of the region are described in this paper. A total of 3,890 Qc measurements covering 187 varying paths are made for different lapse time window of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 s in coda wave. The magnitudes of the analyzed events range from 1.2 to 3.9 and focal depths range between 7 and 38 km. The source–receiver distances of the selected events range between 16 and 270 km. For 30-s duration, the mean values of the estimated Qc vary from 50 ± 12 (at 1 Hz) to 2,078 ± 211(at 18 Hz) for the Arunachal Himalaya, 49 ± 14 (at 1 Hz) to 2,466 ± 197 (at 18 Hz) for the Indo-Burman, and 45 ± 13 (at 1 Hz) to 2,069 ± 198 (at 18 Hz) for Shillong group of earthquakes. It is observed that Qc increases with frequency portraying an average attenuation relation for the region. Moreover, the pattern of Qc^− 1 with frequency is analogous to the estimates obtained in other tectonic areas in the world, except with the observation that the Qc^− 1 is much higher at 1 Hz for the northeastern region. The Qc^− 1 is about 10^− 1.8 at 1 Hz and decreases to about 10^− 3.6 at 18 Hz indicating clear frequency dependence. Pertaining to the spatial distribution of Qc values, Mikir Hills and western part of Shillong Plateau are characterized by lower attenuation.     

Attenuation of Coda Waves at the Changbaishan Tianchi Volcanic Area in Northeast China

21 earthquakes recorded by a temporary seismic network in the Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic area in Northeast China operated during the summer of 2002 and 2003 were analyzed to estimate the S coda attenuation. The attenuation quality factor Q_c was estimated using the single scattering attenuation model of Sato (1977) in the frequency band from 4 to 24 Hz. All the events studied in this paper occurred at depths from 2 to 6 km with ML of 1.4–2.8. The epicentral distances are less than 25 km. For all events which occurred near the Tianchi Lake (caldera), the Q_c patterns obtained at the stations near the lake are similar, and the Q_c values are relatively small. At the stations located about 15 km east of the Tianchi Lake, however, the average Q_c is significantly higher. For an event which occurred 25km from the lake to the west, Q_c patterns derived at the stations near the lake are quite similar to the above mentioned Q_c for stations located in the east. Further study shows that Q_c value in the north and central areas of the volcano is relatively lower than that in the surrounding area. Compared to other volcanic areas in the world, the average Q_c of the Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic area is obviously lower. The deep seismic sounding and teleseismic receiver function studies indicated more than one lower velocity layer in the crust. The MT studies suggested the presence of high conductive bodies beneath the area. We interpret the strong attenuation of coda waves near the Changbaishan Tianchi volcano as being possibly related to high temperature medium caused by shallow magma chambers.     

Coda-Q before and after the 1983 Misasa earthquake of M 6.2, Tottori Prefecture,Japan

To detect any temporal change in coda-Q associated with an earthquake of M 6.2, digitized data from analog magnetic records of microearthquakes for a small confined region just around its hypocenter have been processed, with special attention to measuring errors. The M 6.2 earthquake took place at the Misasa town, Tottori Prefecture, in southwest Japan with preceding anomalous seismicity changes. TheQ values were elevated 20% around three years before the M 6.2 event for frequencies of 5 to 20 Hz, and tended to decrease around two years before. Data with high quality show undulated temporal variation with a period of 5–6 years before the earthquake, which is correlated with the regional seismic activity. There is a possibility that the observedQ change stands for precursory effect of the medium-scale earthquake. The aftershock sequence also shows an undulated temporal variation ofQ with a period of 150 days for around 10Hz, correlating also with the seismic activity. The fracturing processes by numerous microearthquakes may be responsible for the attenuation property of randomly scattered seismic waves.     

Tomography for Q of the Eastern Section of the Tianshan Area from High-frequency Attenuation of S-wave

Based on the waveform data of 5,076 local earthquakes recorded at 25 stations in Xinjiang during the period from 2009 to 2014 and the observation reports provided by the Xinjiang Digital Seismic Network,a data set of 19,140 attenuation factors t*is obtained by fitting the high-frequency attenuation of S-wave spectra with a genetic algorithm. The spatial distribution of Q_S is determined by inverting the t*data with seismic tomography. The results show that the average Q0 in eastern Tianshan is 520,and there is a significant correlation between the Q_S value distribution or attenuation characteristics it disclosed and the surface structure of the study area. The Q_S value is lower in the intersection area of the mountain basin which is located on the north and south sides of the Tianshan Mountains,and the high Q_S distribution is more concentrated inside the Tianshan orogenic belt. The M≥6. 0 earthquakes have been basically located in the Low-Q_S region since 1900. 24 high heat flow points in eastern Tianshan are located at the north and south of Tianshan Mountains where low Q_S exists,indicating a negative correlation. In addition,there is a positive correlation between the velocity structure and the attenuation structure in the study area,which reflects the consistency of the 2-D attenuation structure with the velocity structure and the two-dimensional density structure.     

Lapse time and frequency-dependent attenuation characteristics of coda waves in the Northwestern Himalayas

We analyzed the local earthquakes waveform recorded on a broadband seismic network in the northwestern Himalayan Region to compute lapse time and frequency dependence of coda Q (Q _c). The observed Q _c values increase with increasing lapse time at all frequency bands. The increase in Q _c values with lapse time is attributed to an increase in Q _c with depth. This implies that attenuation decreases with increasing depth. The approximate radius of medium contributing to coda generation varies from 55 to 130 km. By comparing the Q _c values with those from other regions of the world, we find that they are similar to those obtained from tectonically active regions. The estimated Q _c values show a frequency-dependent relationship, Q _c = Q ₀ f ⁿ , where Q ₀ is Q _c at 1 Hz and n represents degree of frequency dependence. They represent the level of heterogeneity and tectonic activity in an area. Our results show that northwest Himalayas are highly heterogeneous and tectonically very active. Q ₀ increases from 113 ± 7 to 243 ± 10 and n decreases from 1.01 ± 0.05 to 0.85 ± 0.03 when lapse time increases from 30 to 70 s. As larger time window sees the effect of deeper part of the Earth, it is concluded that Q ₀ increases and n decreases with increasing depth; i.e., heterogeneity decreases with depth in the study area.