Attenuation of shear-waves in the back-arc region of the Hellenic arc for frequencies from 0.6 to 16 Hz

Q_β for shear-waves is determined for the inner part of the Hellenic arc, the back-arc area, as a function of frequency in the range 0.6–16 Hz. We used 314 digital records from 32 earthquakes with magnitudes (M_w) ranging from 3.9 to 5.1. Epicentral distances ranged from 65 to 515 km. The data were obtained in 1997 during a 6-month operation of a digital portable network in Greece. The Q_β estimates were made for five frequency bands centred at 0.8, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0 and 12.0 Hz and the Q_β values obtained were 47, 79, 143, 271 and 553, respectively. The results show that Q_β for S-waves increases with frequency taking the form Q_β=55f ^0.91 (or Q_β⁻¹0.018f^−0.91). The high attenuation and the strong frequency dependence found, which is close to the frequency dependence of coda Q for Greece, are characteristic of an area with high seismicity, rapid extension, and in agreement with other similar studies in Greece.