ALBERT

Description: We present an approach to infer the slip and rupture velocity distributions on the fault plane from the non-linear inversion of the apparent source time functions, obtained from the empirical Green's function deconvolution method. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows overcoming, in the forward modelling, the limitations related to the computation of the Green's function, as the choice of a correct and reliable earth propagation model. We perform a parameter resolution and uncertainty study, which is based on the analysis of the misfit function in the neighbourhood of the best-fitting model. In this paper, we present the results obtained by applying the technique to synthetic and real records from an M w 4 event which occurred during the 2009 L’Aquila (central Italy) aftershock sequence. Results show a heterogeneous slip distribution, characterized by two main high slip patches located NW of the hypocentre and an average slip of 3.7 cm, corresponding to a seismic model of about 0.82  x 10 15 Nm.

Description: The space–time distribution of coseismic slip of the 2011 February 21, M w 6.2, Christchurch earthquake, New Zealand, is explored, differently from all previous studies, through a joint inversion of geodetic and strong-motion data. The geodetic data consist of both global position system (GPS), from campaign and continuous stations, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferograms from two ascending satellite tracks. The strong motion data consist of 10 stations located in the Canterbury plains, these stations offering a good azimuthal coverage of the event. The kinematic rupture model for the analysed event was obtained using the parametrization and non-linear inversion scheme proposed by Delouis et al. In particular, for any subfault we explore for the local source time function (local slip history), slip direction and rupture onset time. The geometry of the fault plane used for the kinematic inversion is inferred from the analysis of the geodetic data. To validate our results we perform a resolution study for both the single and complete data sets, and an errors analysis of our final kinematic rupture model. Considering the complexity highlighted by superficial deformation data, we adopted a fault model consisting of two partially overlapping segments, with dimensions 15  x 11 and 7  x 7 km 2 , corresponding to different faulting types. This two-fault model, instead of single-fault model, is needed to reconstruct the complex shape of the superficial deformation data. The total seismic moment resulting from the joint inversion is 3.0  x 1025 dyne · cm ( M w  = 6.2) with an average rupture velocity of 2.0 km s –1 .

Description: Automated location of seismic events is a very important task in microseismic monitoring operations as well for local and regional seismic monitoring. Since microseismic records are generally characterized by low signal-to-noise ratio, automated location methods are requested to be noise robust and sufficiently accurate. Most of the standard automated location routines are based on the automated picking, identification and association of the first arrivals of P and S waves and on the minimization of the residuals between theoretical and observed arrival times of the considered seismic phases. Although current methods can accurately pick P onsets, the automatic picking of the S onset is still problematic, especially when the P coda overlaps the S wave onset. In this paper, we propose a picking free earthquake location method based on the use of the short-term-average/long-term-average (STA/LTA) traces at different stations as observed data. For the P phases, we use the STA/LTA traces of the vertical energy function, whereas for the S phases, we use the STA/LTA traces of a second characteristic function, which is obtained using the principal component analysis technique. In order to locate the seismic event, we scan the space of possible hypocentral locations and origin times, and stack the STA/LTA traces along the theoretical arrival time surface for both P and S phases. Iterating this procedure on a 3-D grid, we retrieve a multidimensional matrix whose absolute maximum corresponds to the spatial coordinates of the seismic event. A pilot application was performed in the Campania-Lucania region (southern Italy) using a seismic network (Irpinia Seismic Network) with an aperture of about 150 km. We located 196 crustal earthquakes (depth 〈 20 km) with magnitude range 1.1 〈 M L  〈 2.7. A subset of these locations were compared with accurate manual locations refined by using a double-difference technique. Our results indicate a good agreement with manual locations. Moreover, our method is noise robust and performs better than classical location methods based on the automatic picking of the P and S waves first arrivals.

Description: A non-linear, global-search, probabilistic, double-difference earthquake location technique is illustrated. The main advantages of this method are the determination of comprehensive and complete solutions through the probability density function (PDF), the use of differential arrival times as data and the possibility to use a 3-D velocity model both for absolute and double-difference locations, all of which help to obtain accurate differential locations in structurally complex geological media. The joint use of this methodology and an accurate differential time data set allowed us to carry out a high-resolution, earthquake location analysis, which helps to characterize the active fault geometries in the studied region. We investigated the recent microseismicity occurring at the Campanian-Lucanian Apennines in the crustal volume embedding the fault system that generated the 1980 M S 6.9 earthquake in Irpinia. In order to obtain highly accurate seismicity locations, we applied the method to the P and S arrival time data set from 1312 events ( M L 〈 3.1) that occurred from August 2005 to April 2011 and used the 3-D P - and S -wave velocity models optimized for the area under study. Both manually refined and cross-correlation refined absolute arrival times have been used. The refined seismicity locations show that the events occur in a volume delimited by the faults activated during the 1980 M S 6.9 Irpinia earthquake on subparallel, predominantly normal faults. We find an abrupt interruption of the seismicity across an SW–NE oriented structural discontinuity corresponding to a contact zone between different rheology rock formations (carbonate platform and basin residuals). This ‘barrier’ appears to be located in the area bounded by the fault segments activated during the first (0 s) and the second (18 s) rupture episodes of the 1980s Irpinia earthquake. We hypothesize that this geometrical barrier could have played a key role during the 1980 Irpinia event, and possibly controlled the delayed times of activation of the two rupture segments.

Description: We present a 1-D velocity model of the Earth's crust in Campania–Lucania region obtained by solving the coupled hypocentre–velocity inverse problem for 1312 local earthquakes recorded at a dense regional network. The model is constructed using the VELEST program, which calculates 1-D ‘minimum’ velocity model from body wave traveltimes, together with station corrections, which account for deviations from the simple 1-D structure. The spatial distribution of station corrections correlates with the P -wave velocity variations of a preliminary 3-D crustal velocity model that has been obtained from the tomographic inversion of the same data set of P traveltimes. We found that station corrections reflect not only inhomogeneous near-surface structures, but also larger-scale geological features associated to the transition between carbonate platform outcrops at Southwest and Miocene sedimentary basins at Northeast. We observe a significant trade-off between epicentral locations and station corrections, related to the existence of a thick low-velocity layer to the NE. This effect is taken into account and minimized by re-computing station corrections, fixing the position of a subset of well-determined hypocentres, located in the 3-D tomographic model.

Description: This work is aimed at the automatic and fast characterization of the extended earthquake source, through the progressive measurement of the P -wave displacement amplitude along the recorded seismograms. We propose a straightforward methodology to quickly characterize the earthquake magnitude and the expected length of the rupture, and to provide an approximate estimate of the average stress drop to be used for Earthquake Early Warning and rapid response purposes. We test the methodology over a wide distance and magnitude range using a massive Japan earthquake, accelerogram data set. Our estimates of moment magnitude, source duration/length and stress drop are consistent with the ones obtained by using other techniques and analysing the whole seismic waveform. In particular, the retrieved source parameters follow a self-similar, constant stress-drop scaling (median value of stress drop = 0.71 MPa). For the M 9.0, 2011 Tohoku-Oki event, both magnitude and length are underestimated, due to limited, available P -wave time window (PTWs) and to the low-frequency cut-off of analysed data. We show that, in a simulated real-time mode, about 1–2 seconds would be required for the source parameter determination of M 4–5 events, 3–10 seconds for M 6–7 and 30–40 s for M 8–8.5. The proposed method can also provide a rapid evaluation of the average slip on the fault plane, which can be used as an additional discriminant for tsunami potential, associated to large magnitude earthquakes occurring offshore.

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉In this study, a straightforward and rapid methodology is proposed and tested to determine the seismic moment, the earthquake rupture length/duration and the static stress drop. To this purpose, three ground motion parameters, that is, 〈span〉P〈/span〉-wave peak acceleration (${P_a}$), velocity (${P_v}$) and displacement (${P_d}$) are evaluated as a function of time from the first 〈span〉P〈/span〉 arrival. The average of the logarithm of the 〈span〉P〈/span〉-wave amplitude (LPDT curves), corrected for the distance-attenuation effect, is calculated using all the available stations in expanded 〈span〉P〈/span〉-wave time windows. The LPDT curves show an exponential growth shape and increase with time until they reach a constant value (plateau), which is related to the magnitude of the earthquake. From the obtained observations, we demonstrate that the corner time of the plateau level on the weighted-fit curve to the LPDT curves is related to the half-duration of the rupture. Thus, using the theoretical scaling, the source radius and stress drop can be obtained from the measured half-duration of the source. This method has been applied and tested to the records of the 2016–2017 Central Italy seismic sequence, with moment magnitude ranging between 3.4 and 6.5. Our study shows that source parameters match a self-similar, constant-stress-drop scaling with a relatively low average stress drop of about $1.1 \pm 0.5\ \mathrm{ MPa}$, except for the largest event of the sequence showing a relatively higher stress release, which is associated with the dominant radiation from a localized high slip patch on the fracture surface. The proposed approach based on a simple time domain signal analysis is innovative and may complement longer spectral technique for fast estimating earthquake source properties.〈/span〉

Description: We investigated the shallow structure of the Solfatara, a volcano within the Campi Flegrei caldera, southern Italy, using surface waves as a diagnostic tool. We analysed data collected during the RICEN campaign, where a 3-D active seismic experiment was performed on a dense regular grid of 90 m  x  115 m using a Vibroseis as the seismic source. After removal of the source time function, we analysed the surface wave contribution to the Green's function. Here, a 1-D approximation can hold for subgrids of 40 m  x  40 m. Moreover, we stacked all of the signals in the subgrid according to source–receiver distance bins, despite the absolute location of the source and the receiver, to reduce the small-scale variability in the data. We then analysed the resulting seismic sections in narrow frequency bands between 7 and 25 Hz. We obtained phase and group velocities from a grid search, and a cost function based on the spatial coherence of both the waveforms and their envelopes. We finally jointly inverted the dispersion curves of the phase and group velocities to retrieve a 1-D S -wave model local to the subgrid. Together, the models provided a 3-D description of the S -wave model in the area. We found that the maximum penetration depth is 15 m. In the first 4 m, we can associate the changes in the S -wave field to the temperature gradient, while at greater depths, the seismic images correlate with the resistivity maps, which indicate the water layer close to the Fangaia area and an abrupt variation moving towards the northeast.