Publication Date:
2016-03-25
Description:
Given a moment tensor m inferred from seismic data for an earthquake, we define ${\scr P}(V)$ to be the probability that the true moment tensor for the earthquake lies in the neighbourhood of m that has fractional volume V . The average value of ${\scr P}(V)$ is then a measure of our confidence in m . The calculation of ${\scr P}(V)$ requires knowing both the probability $\skew4\hat{P}(\omega )$ and the fractional volume $\skew4\hat{V}(\omega )$ of the set of moment tensors within a given angular radius of m . We explain how to construct $\skew4\hat{P}(\omega )$ from a misfit function derived from seismic data, and we show how to calculate $\skew4\hat{V}(\omega )$ , which depends on the set $\mathbb {M}$ of moment tensors under consideration. The two most important instances of $\mathbb {M}$ are where $\mathbb {M}$ is the set of all moment tensors of fixed norm, and where $\mathbb {M}$ is the set of all double couples of fixed norm.
Keywords:
Seismology
Print ISSN:
0956-540X
Electronic ISSN:
1365-246X
Topics:
Geosciences
Published by
Oxford University Press
on behalf of
The Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft (DGG) and the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).