Study of crustal structure with S—wave data from Maqen—Jingbian profile

2-D crustal velocity structure and vp/vs are obtained by processing and interpretation of S-wave data from Maqen-Jingbian deep seismic sounding(DSS)profile.The result shows that there exist obvious differences in 2-D S-wave velocity structure and vp/vs ratio structure along the profile.The S-wave velocities are low and vp/vs ration is high for the westem section of the profile and Haiyuan region,while they are normal for the middle and eastern sections.The changes in lithologic characters of two major anomalous zones are discussed according to lateral variation of S-wave velocity structure and vp/vs ratio structure.It is concluded that the development and occurrence of the Haiyuan strong earthquake is not only related to tectonic activities,but also to lithologic characters of the region.     

Changes in source parameters of foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2001 M_S=6.0 Yajiang, Sichuan, earthquake

Introduction An MS=6.0 earthquake occurred on February 23, 2001 in Yajiang county, Sichuan Province. The earthquake is located on the east of the southeast segment of the Litang-Dewu fault with strike of NW. Before the event, on February 14, an MS=5.0 earthquake took place nearly in the same place. In 1948 an MS=7.3 earthquake occurred on the northwestern segment of the Litang fault. The length of the surface rupture belt caused by the earthquake is 70 km, which extended from Litang to…     

德令哈6．6级地震前地震活动及地震序列特征

德令哈6．6级地震发生在青海省地震局2003年度会商确定的应注意地区内，震前测震学出现多项中短期异常。该地震序列从其能量释放比、震级差均符合主震一余震型判断指标，为主震-余震型序列。序列跟踪工作总结出该序列早期阶段(20天内)预测强余震的几项指标。     

德令哈6．6级地震前卫星红外长波辐射OLR的分析

应用NOAA卫星资料反演的地震长波辐射值OLR对2003年4月17日发生在青海省德令哈西的6．6级地震进行了追踪研究。结果显示：2003年1月起OLR距平值出现明显的高值异常区域。     

青海北祁连区中三叠世孢粉的发现及其意义

祁连县俄博乡土圈沟、大擦汗沟、柯柯里等剖面的粉砂岩、砂质页岩、泥质页岩岩层之中，首次发现丰富的孢粉化石，计39属74种(其中包括1新种)，疑源类8属9种。推出Verrucosisporites(8．6％)-Triadispora(2％)-Trematosphaeridium(7．2％)的孢粉组合。该孢粉组合面貌应归于中三叠世Anisian期。它的发现为该套地层的进一步研究与合理归属提供了最新成果。     

Earthen barriers to control lava flows in the 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna

Preceded by four days of intense seismicity and marked ground deformation, a new eruption of Mt. Etna started on 17 July and lasted until 9 August 2001. It produced lava emission and strombolian and phreatomagmatic activity from four different main vents located on a complex fracture system extending from the southeast summit cone for about 4.5 km southwards, from 3000 to 2100 m elevation (a.s.l.). The lava emitted from the lowest vent cut up an important road on the volcano and destroyed other rural roads and a few isolated country houses. Its front descended southwards to about 4 km distance from the villages of Nicolosi and Belpasso. A plan of intervention, including diversion and retaining barriers and possibly lava flow interruption, was prepared but not activated because the flow front stopped as a consequence of a decrease in the effusion rate. Extensive interventions were carried out in order to protect some important tourist facilities of the Sapienza and Mts. Silvestri zones (1900 m elevation) from being destroyed by the lava emitted from vents located at 2700 m and 2550 m elevation. Thirteen earthen barriers (with a maximum length of 370 m, height of 10–12 m, base width of 15 m and volume of 25 000 m³) were built to divert the lava flow away from the facilities towards a path implying considerably less damage. Most of the barriers were oriented diagonally (110–135°) to the direction of the flow. They were made of loose material excavated nearby and worked very nicely, resisting the thrust of the lava without any difficulty. After the interventions carried out on Mt. Etna in 1983 and in 1991–1992, those of 2001 confirm that earthen barriers can be very effective in controlling lava flows.     

An Mw based earthquake Catalogue for central, northern and northwestern Europe using a hierarchy of magnitude conversions

Data from 25 local catalogues and 30special studies of earthquakes in central,northern and northwestern Europe have beenincorporated into a Databank. The dataprocessing includes discriminating eventtypes, eliminating fake events and dupletsand converting different magnitudes andintensities to M_w if this is not givenby the original source. The magnitudeconversion is a key task of the study andimplies establishment of regressionequations where no local relations exist.The Catalogue contains tectonic events fromthe Databank within the area44°N–72°N,25°W–32°E and the time period1300–1993. The lower magnitude level forthe Catalogue entries is setat M_w == 3.50. The area covered by thedifferent catalogues are associated withpolygons. Within each polygon only datafrom one or a small number of the localcatalogues, supplemented by data fromspecial studies, enter the Catalogue. Ifthere are two or more such catalogues orstudies providing a solution for an event,a priority algorithm selects one entry forthe Catalogue. Then M_w is calculatedfrom one of the magnitude types, or frommacroseismic data, given by the selectedentry according to another priority scheme.The origin time, location, M_w magnitude and reference are specified for eachentry of the Catalogue. So is theepicentral intensity, I₀, if providedby the original source. Following thesecriteria, a total of about 5,000earthquakes constitute the Catalogue.Although originally derived for the purposeof seismic hazard calculation within GSHAP,the Catalogue provides a data base for manytypes of seismicity and seismic hazardstudies.     

Exploration and Study on Deep Crust Structural Characteristics in the Jiashi-Artux Seismic Region

The data from two deep seismic sounding profiles was processed and studied comprehensively. The results show that crnst-mantle structures in the investigated region obviously display layered characteristics and velocity structures and tectonic features have larger distinction in different geological structure blocks. The boundary interface C between the upper and lower crust and Moho fluctuate greatly. The shallowest depths of C (30.0km) and Moho (45.5km) under Jiashi deepen sharply from Jiashi to the western Kunlun mountain areas, where the depths of C and Moho are 44.0km and 70.0km, respectively. The higher velocity structures in the Tarim massif determine its relatively “stable“ characteristics in crust tectonics. The phenomenon in the Jiashi region, where the distribution of earthquake foci mostly range from 20kin to 40kin in depth, may infer that the local uplift of C and Moho interface, anomalonsly lower velocity bodies and deep large faults control earthquake occurrence and seismogenic processes in the Jiashi strong earthquake swarm.     

Research on Earthquakes in Cities of China

In this paper, we briefly describe the general destruction caused by historic earthquakes in major cities of China, preliminarily analyze the heaviness and widespread occurrence of earthquakes in cities of China, and suggest that research on scenario earthquakes in cities should be developed as a part urban disaster reduction research.     

Estimation of fundamental periods of shear‐wall dominant building structures

Shear‐wall dominant multistorey reinforced concrete structures, constructed by using a special tunnel form technique are commonly built in countries facing a substantial seismic risk, such as Chile, Japan, Italy and Turkey. In spite of their high resistance to earthquake excitations, current seismic code provisions including the Uniform Building Code (International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, CA, 1997) and the Turkish Seismic Code (Specification for Structures to be Built in Disaster Areas, Ankara, Turkey, 1998) present limited information for their design criteria. In this study, consistency of equations in those seismic codes related to their dynamic properties are investigated and it is observed that the given empirical equations for prediction of fundamental periods of this specific type of structures yield inaccurate results. For that reason, a total of 80 different building configurations were analysed by using three‐dimensional finite‐element modelling and a set of new empirical equations was proposed. The results of the analyses demonstrate that given formulas including new parameters provide accurate predictions for the broad range of different architectural configurations, roof heights and shear‐wall distributions, and may be used as an efficient tool for the implicit design of these structures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.