Nonseismic phenomena in the generation and augmentation of tsunamis

While earthquakes generate about 90% of all tsunamis, volcanic activity, landslides, explosions, and other nonseismic phenomena can also result in tsunamis. There have been 53 000 reported deaths as a result of tsunamis generated by landslides and volcanoes. No death tolls are available for many events, but reports indicate that villages, islands, and even entire civilizations have disappeared. Some of the highest tsunami wave heights ever observed were produced by landslides. In the National Geophysical Data Center world-wide tsunami database, there are nearly 200 tsunami events in which nonseismic phenomena played a major role. In this paper, we briefly discuss a variety of nonseismic phenomena that can result in tsunamis. We discuss the magnitude of the disasters that have resulted from such events, and we discuss the potential for reducing such disasters by education and warning systems.     

广东省强震台网建设概况

本文论述了广东省强震台网建设的目的和原则,介绍了台网中使用的强震仪,收取的强震记录和处理情况、台网管理及其展望。     

Intermediate and deep earthquakes in Spain

Recent improvements in the seismological networks on the Ibero-Maghrebian region have permitted estimation of hypocentral location and focal mechanisms for earthquakes which occurred at South Spain, Alboran Sea and northern Morocco of deep and intermediate depth, with magnitudes between 3.5 and 4.5. Intermediate depth shocks, range from 60 to 100 km, with greater concentration located between Granada and Málaga. Fault-plane solutions of 5 intermediate shocks have been determined; they present a vertical plane in NE-SW or E-W direction. Seismic moments of about 10¹⁵ Nm and dimensions of about 1 km have been determined from digital records of Spanish stations.P-wave forms are complex. This may be explained by the crustal structure near the station, discontinuities in the upper mantle and inhomogeneities near the source. Deep activity at about 650 km has only 3 shocks since 1954 (1954, 1973, 1990). Shocks are located at a very small region. Fault-plane solutions show a consistent direction of the pressure axis dipping 45° in E direction. For the 1990 shock seismic moment is 10¹⁶ Nm and dimensions 2.6 km. TheP-waves are of simpler form with a single pulse. The intermediate and deep activities are not connected and no activity has been detected between 100 and 650 km. The intermediate shocks may be explained in terms of a recent subduction from Africa under Iberia in SE direction. The very deep activity must be related to a sunk detached block of lithospheric material still sufficiently cold and rigid to generate earthquakes.     

Focal mechanisms of intraplate earthquakes in Bolivia,South America

Intraplate seismic activity in Bolivia is mainly located in the central region (16°–19°S, 63°–67°W) which includes the East Andean Cordillera and the Sub-Andean Sierras. At this region there is a bend in the trend of the main geological structures from NW-SE in the north to N-S in the south. Focal mechanisms have been calculated for 10 earthquakes of magnitudes 4.9–5.6, using first motionP-waves from long period instruments. Their solutions correspond to reverse faulting, some with a large component of strike-slip motion. Their solutions can be grouped into two types; one with pure reverse faulting on planes with azimuth NW-SE and the other with a large strike-slip component on planes with azimuths nearly N-S or WNW-ESE. The maximum stress axis (P-axis) is practically horizontal (dipping less than 5°) oriented in a mean N56°E direction. This orientation may be related with the direction of compression resulting from the collision of the Nazca plate against the western margin of the South American continent. Wave-form analysis of long-periodP-waves for one event restricts the focal depth to 8 km in the Sub-Andean region. Seismic moments and source dimensions determined from spectra of Rayleigh waves are in the range of 10¹⁶–10¹⁷Nm and 17–24 km, respectively. The Central Bolivia region can be considered as a zone of intraplate deformation situated between the Bolivian Altiplano and the Brazil shield.     

新疆南天山部分地区尾波衰减特征

分析1988年库尔勒和阳霞台地震尾波资料发现,地方震尾波衰减系数α值、尾波持续时间比τ值,在中强震前确有异常显示。