Source parameters of central California earthquakes on February 24 and September 4, 1972 |
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| Authors: | Tuneto Kurita |
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| Institution: | Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main Federal Republic of Germany |
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| Abstract: | The directivity function method is combined with an earthquake sequence study to obtain the reliable estimates of rupture area and rupture velocity of two right-lateral strike-slip earthquakes occurring along the San Andreas fault zone in central California. By utilizing a significant difference in velocity structure on both sides of the main fault, a modified version of the directivity function is formulated and applied to near-field SH waves. On assuming aftershock areas following their step-wise increase with time as rupture areas, an extensive systematic search for the best fit between the observed and theoretical directivity functions is made for a combination of both source parameters. The rupture at the February 24, 1972 earthquake (ML = 5.0) propagated unilaterally with an average velocity of about 2.3 km/sec. It produced a rectangular area, the horizontal and vertical lengths being about 5 and 2 km, respectively. The rupture at the September 4, 1972 earthquake (ML = 4.6) was of bilateral, yielding a nearly square rupture area of which side length is about 2 km. The rupture velocity of this earthquake, though some ambiguities resulting from a lower quality of the observed directivity function, is estimated at 1.9 km/sec or less. A difference in average rupture velocity between both earthquakes might imply its dependence on the ambient tectonic environment such as represented by local stress and humidity. By taking into account a post-earthquake creep increase of about 3.0–3.5 cm observed at a creepmeter station situated over the focus of the February 24, 1972 earthquake, its stress drop and seismic moment are estimated at about 10 bar and 1023 dyn · cm, respectively. The above procedure has a broad applicability for recovering reliable estimates of source parameters, especially when it is combined with a synthetic approach. |
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