Spectral time method of identification of seismic events at distances of 15°–40°

The spectral time method is applied to the identification of underground nuclear explosions (UNEs) and earthquakes from P wave records obtained at stations at epicentral distances of 15°–40°. It is necessary to utilize data at such great distances because the density of stations of the International Monitoring System is small in several areas of the Earth. At such distances, it is difficult to detect S and surface LR waves and, therefore, the efficiency of the identification using the diagnostic parameters (discriminants) S/P and LR/P is drastically reduced. As a result, the role of spectral and spectral time methods in the identification of events from P waves becomes much more significant. An advantage of the spectral time method (STM) is that it is applicable in the region of interest, provided that data from one or two reference underground chemical explosions and a representative sample of earthquake records obtained at network stations of the region are available. Moreover, in the majority of cases, the STM identifies earthquakes that could not be recognized with the use of spectral diagnostic parameters. We used records of UNEs and earthquakes in Central Asia received from the archives of the Center of the Incorporated Research Institution for Seismology (IRIS) in Washington, the National Data Center in Dubna (Russian Federation), and the International Data Center (IDC) in Vienna. The effectiveness of earthquake record selection using the given method amounted to about 80%. Supposedly, the application of this method of identification can increase the percentage of filtration (screening) of regional events having a natural origin.