Non-Double-Couple Components of the Moment Tensor in a Transversely Isotropic Medium

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 1125-1133
Author(s):  
William Menke ◽  
Joshua B. Russell

ABSTRACT The non-double-couple (non-DC) components of the moment tensor provide insight into the earthquake processes and anisotropy of the near-source region. We investigate the behavior of the isotropic (ISO) and compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) components of the moment tensor for shear faulting in a transversely ISO medium with an arbitrarily oriented symmetry axis. Analytic formulas for ISO and CLVD depend on the orientation of the fault relative to the anisotropy symmetry axis as well as three anisotropic parameters, which describe deviations of the medium from isotropy. Numerical experiments are presented for the preliminary reference Earth model. Both ISO and CLVD components are zero when the axis of symmetry is within the fault plane or the auxiliary plane. For any orientation in which the ISO component is zero, the CLVD component is also zero, but the opposite is not always true (e.g., for strong anisotropy). The relative signs of the non-DC components of neighboring earthquakes may help distinguish source processes from source-region anisotropy. We prove that an inversion of ISO and CLVD components of a set of earthquakes with different focal mechanisms can uniquely determine the orientation and strength of anisotropy. This study highlights the importance of the ISO component for constraining deep slab anisotropy and demonstrates that it cannot be neglected.

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-112
Author(s):  
Can Oren ◽  
Jeffrey Shragge

In microseismic monitoring, obtaining reliable information about the event properties, such as the location, origin time, and moment tensor components, is critical for evaluating the success of the fluid injection programs. Elastic wavefield-based migration approaches can robustly image microseismic sources by extrapolating data through an earth model and evaluating an imaging condition. The success of these imaging methods, though, primarily depends on the elastic model accuracy. The previously developed extended PS energy imaging condition can provide valuable information about the accuracy of the elastic model parameters including vertical P- and S-wave velocities as well as anisotropy coefficients. Using the SEAM Barrett Unconventional model, we assess the influence of errors in the anisotropy parameters by conducting a sensitivity analysis in three types of 3D models: VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis), HTI (transversely isotropic with a horizontal symmetry axis), and ORT (orthorhombic) media. Our analysis on zero-lag and extended PS energy images computed with perturbed anisotropy models shows that event images exhibit different moveout patterns of misfocused energy with respect to the distorted Thomsen parameters e and d; however, for this model, the ? parameters have almost no influence on images regardless of the applied perturbations, which are reflected in minimal traveltime differences in the data. The dependence of microseismic source images on these parameters provides essential insights into anisotropic model accuracy, and suggests that misfocused energy on extended image gathers may be used as a criterion for updating earth models through anisotropic elastic image-domain inversion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (6) ◽  
pp. 2415-2426
Author(s):  
Çağrı Diner

Abstract Full moment tensor inversion has become a standard method for understanding the mechanisms of earthquakes as the resolution of the inversion process increases. Thus, it is important to know the possible forms of non–double‐couple (non‐DC) moment tensors, which can be obtained because of either the different source mechanisms or the anisotropy of the focal regions. In this study, the form of the moment tensors of seismic sources occurring in transversely isotropic (TI) focal regions is obtained using the eigendecomposition of the elasticity tensor. More precisely, a moment tensor is obtained as a linear combination of the eigenspaces of TI elasticity tensor in which the coefficients of the terms are the corresponding eigenvalues multiplied with the projection of the potency tensor onto the corresponding eigenspaces. Moreover, the eigendecomposition method is also applied to obtain the three different forms of moment tensors in isotropic focal regions, in particular, for the shear source, tensile source, and for any type of potency tensor whose rank is three. This linear algebra point of view makes the structure of the moment tensors more apparent; for example, a shear source tensor is an eigenvector of isotropic elasticity tensor, and hence the resulting moment tensor is proportional to its shear source tensor. Moreover, a geometric interpretation for the scalar seismic moment, which is the norm of the moment tensor, for anisotropic focal regions is achieved through the eigendecomposition method. This method also gives a simple way to quantify the percentage of the isotropic component of the moment tensor of shear sources in TI focal regions. Hence, the complexities in the moment tensor introduced by the anisotropy of the focal region and by the source mechanism can be differentiated.


1983 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-434
Author(s):  
Jeffery S. Barker ◽  
Charles A. Langston

abstract Teleseismic P-wave first motions for the M ≧ 6 earthquakes near Mammoth Lakes, California, are inconsistent with the vertical strike-slip mechanisms determined from local and regional P-wave first motions. Combining these data sets allows three possible mechanisms: a north-striking, east-dipping strike-slip fault; a NE-striking oblique fault; and a NNW-striking normal fault. Inversion of long-period teleseismic P and SH waves for the events of 25 May 1980 (1633 UTC) and 27 May 1980 (1450 UTC) yields moment tensors with large non-double-couple components. The moment tensor for the first event may be decomposed into a major double couple with strike = 18°, dip = 61°, and rake = −15°, and a minor double couple with strike = 303°, dip = 43°, and rake = 224°. A similar decomposition for the last event yields strike = 25°, dip = 65°, rake = −6°, and strike = 312°, dip = 37°, and rake = 232°. Although the inversions were performed on only a few teleseismic body waves, the radiation patterns of the moment tensors are consistent with most of the P-wave first motion polarities at local, regional, and teleseismic distances. The stress axes inferred from the moment tensors are consistent with N65°E extension determined by geodetic measurements by Savage et al. (1981). Seismic moments computed from the moment tensors are 1.87 × 1025 dyne-cm for the 25 May 1980 (1633 UTC) event and 1.03 × 1025 dyne-cm for the 27 May 1980 (1450 UTC) event. The non-double-couple aspect of the moment tensors and the inability to obtain a convergent solution for the 25 May 1980 (1944 UTC) event may indicate that the assumptions of a point source and plane-layered structure implicit in the moment tensor inversion are not entirely valid for the Mammoth Lakes earthquakes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Wang ◽  
Zhongwen Zhan

SUMMARY Earthquake focal mechanisms put primary control on the distribution of ground motion, and also bear on the stress state of the crust. Most routine focal mechanism catalogues still use 1-D velocity models in inversions, which may introduce large uncertainties in regions with strong lateral velocity heterogeneities. In this study, we develop an automated waveform-based inversion approach to determine the moment tensors of small-to-medium-sized earthquakes using 3-D velocity models. We apply our approach in the Los Angeles region to produce a new moment tensor catalogue with a completeness of ML ≥ 3.5. The inversions using the Southern California Earthquake Center Community Velocity Model (3D CVM-S4.26) significantly reduces the moment tensor uncertainties, mainly owing to the accuracy of the 3-D velocity model in predicting both the phases and the amplitudes of the observed seismograms. By comparing the full moment tensor solutions obtained using 1-D and 3-D velocity models, we show that the percentages of non-double-couple components decrease dramatically with the usage of 3-D velocity model, suggesting that large fractions of non-double-couple components from 1-D inversions are artifacts caused by unmodelled 3-D velocity structures. The new catalogue also features more accurate focal depths and moment magnitudes. Our highly accurate, efficient and automatic inversion approach can be expanded in other regions, and can be easily implemented in near real-time system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 2112-2123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Dost ◽  
Annemijn van Stiphout ◽  
Daniela Kühn ◽  
Marloes Kortekaas ◽  
Elmer Ruigrok ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Recent developments in the densification of the seismic network covering the Groningen gas field allow a more detailed study of the connection between induced seismicity and reactivated faults around the gas reservoir at 3 km depth. With the reduction of the average station distance from 20 km to 4–5 km, a probabilistic full-waveform moment tensor inversion procedure could be applied, resulting in both improved hypocenter location accuracy and full moment tensor solutions for events of M≥2.0 recorded in the period 2016–2019. Hypocenter locations as output from the moment tensor inversion are compared to locations from the application of other methods and are found similar within 250 m distance. Moment tensor results show that the double-couple (DC) solutions are in accordance with the known structure, namely normal faulting along 50°–70° dipping faults. Comparison with reprocessed 3D seismic sections, extended to a depth of 6–7 km, demonstrate that (a) most events occur along faults with a small throw and (b) reactivated faults in the reservoir often continue downward in the Carboniferous underburden. From non-DC contributions, the isotropic (ISO) component is dominant and shows consistent negative values, which is expected in a compacting medium. There is some indication that events connected to faults with a large throw (>70  m) exhibit the largest ISO component (40%–50%).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saulė Simutė ◽  
Lion Krischer ◽  
Christian Boehm ◽  
Martin Vallée ◽  
Andreas Fichtner

<p>We present a proof-of-concept catalogue of full-waveform seismic source solutions for the Japanese Islands area. Our method is based on the Bayesian inference of source parameters and a tomographically derived heterogeneous Earth model, used to compute Green’s strain tensors. We infer the full moment tensor, location and centroid time of the seismic events in the study area.</p><p>To compute spatial derivatives of Green’s functions, we use a previously derived regional Earth model (Simutė et al., 2016). The model is radially anisotropic, visco-elastic, and fully heterogeneous. It was constructed using full waveforms in the period band of 15–80 s.</p><p>Green’s strains are computed numerically with the spectral-element solver SES3D (Gokhberg & Fichtner, 2016). We exploit reciprocity, and by treating seismic stations as virtual sources we compute and store the wavefield across the domain. This gives us a strain database for all potential source-receiver pairs. We store the wavefield for more than 50 F-net broadband stations (www.fnet.bosai.go.jp). By assuming an impulse response as the source time function, the displacements are then promptly obtained by linear combination of the pre-computed strains scaled by the moment tensor elements.</p><p>With a feasible number of model parameters and the fast forward problem we infer the unknowns in a Bayesian framework. The fully probabilistic approach allows us to obtain uncertainty information as well as inter-parameter trade-offs. The sampling is performed with a variant of the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm, which we developed previously (Fichtner and Simutė, 2017). We apply an L2 misfit on waveform data, and we work in the period band of 15–80 s.</p><p>We jointly infer three location parameters, timing and moment tensor components. We present two sets of source solutions: 1) full moment tensor solutions, where the trace is free to vary away from zero, and 2) moment tensor solutions with the isotropic part constrained to be zero. In particular, we study events with significant non-double-couple component. Preliminary results of ~Mw 5 shallow to intermediate depth events indicate that proper incorporation of 3-D Earth structure results in solutions becoming more double-couple like. We also find that improving the Global CMT solutions in terms of waveform fit requires a very good 3-D Earth model and is not trivial.</p>


EKSPLORIUM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Priyobudi Priyobudi ◽  
Mohamad Ramdhan

ABSTRAK. Keberadaan sesar aktif dengan pola sesar naik di daerah Plampang berhasil diungkap dari sebaran hiposenter terelokasi, hasil inversi momen tensor, dan pemodelan perubahan tegangan Coulomb. Studi ini juga berhasil mengungkap sumber gempa pada sesar aktif tersebut dengan kedalaman relatif dangkal yang bisa menjadi ancaman di Pulau Sumbawa jika magnitudo maksimumnya rilis di masa yang akan datang. Hasil relokasi hiposenter menunjukkan sebaran episenter berarah barat daya–timur laut. Hal ini didukung juga oleh hasil inversi momen tensor yang menunjukkan bidang sesar berarah barat daya–timur laut (N2240E) dengan dip cukup curam (490). Penampang seismisitas vertikal pada arah dip menunjukkan adanya pola sesar naik yang semakin landai seiring bertambahnya kedalaman. Bidang sesar yang landai menunjukkan struktur decollement pada kedalaman 10–15 km dan berangsur menjadi curam sebagai struktur splay fault pada kedalaman 0–10 km. Hal tersebut konsisten dengan hasil inversi momen tensor yang menunjukkan mekanisme pergerakan sesar naik terjadi pada kedalaman 7 km. Pemodelan perubahan tegangan Coulomb menunjukkan adanya penambahan stress di luar area bidang sesar sehingga memicu terjadinya aftershocks. Sebaran gempa susulan menunjukkan adanya bidang sesar hipotetik dengan panjang 19 km dan lebar 12 km. Sesar sebesar ini berpotensi membangkitkan gempa dengan kekuatan Mw 6,4. Gempa Sumbawa 13 Juni 2020 dengan magnitudo M 5,3 disebabkan oleh sebagian kecil aktivitas dari bidang sesar tersebut.ABSTRACT. The existence of an active fault with a reverse fault mechanism in the Plampang area is successfully delineated from the distribution of the relocated hypocenter, the moment tensor inversion, and the Coulomb stress changes. This study also reveals the source of the earthquake in the active fault with a relatively shallow depth which can be a threat on Sumbawa Island if the maximum magnitude is released in the future. Seismicity from hypocenter relocation shows the distribution of the epicenter with a southwest–northeast direction. It is also supported by the moment tensor inversion result which shows the fault plane trending southwest–northeast (N2240E) with a steep dip (490). The vertical section of seismicity in the dip direction shows that the slope of the plane has a lower angle with increasing depth. The lower angle of a fault plane shows a decollement structure at a depth of 10–15 km and gradually becomes steep as a splay fault structure at a depth of 0–10 km. It is consistent with the result of moment tensor inversion which shows the mechanism of a reverse fault that occurred at a depth of 7 km. The Coulomb stress changes show the stress increasing outside the fault plane area, which triggers aftershocks. The distribution of aftershocks shows a hypothetical fault plane of 19 km long and 12 km wide. A fault of this size has the potential to generate an earthquake with a magnitude maximum of Mw 6.4. The Sumbawa earthquake on June 13, 2020, having M 5.3 was caused by a small part of the activity from the fault.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 4595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longjun Dong ◽  
Yihan Zhang ◽  
Ju Ma

To explore the potential precursors of rock instability, it is necessary to clarify the mechanism of micro-crack from fracturing to failure, which involves the evolution of fracture size, orientation, source model, and their relationships to the loading. The waveforms of acoustic emission (AE) recorded by the sensor network attached rock sample during laboratory tests provide a data basis for solving these problems, since these observations are directly related to the characteristics of the fracturing sources. Firstly, we investigated the source mechanism, looking at the rise angle and the average frequency (RA-AF) trends during five loading stages in a uniaxial compression test. Results show that the proportion of shear events significantly increases when approaching instability. Secondly, we calculated the moment tensor for each event, considering the uncertainties of P-wave polarity, azimuth, and the takeoff angles of the rays. Moment tensor solutions suggest that there are obviously more crack events than shear events in all loading stages. Moment tensor evolutions confirmed that the decreasing of isotropic component and the increment of double-couple can be used as precursors of rock fracturing development. Considering the limitations of these two methods, it is suggested that we should be concerned more about the proportions of individual failure components and their evolutions over time, instead of absolutely classifying the events into a certain source type.


1987 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 1558-1578
Author(s):  
Kristín S. Vogfjörd ◽  
Charles A. Langston

Abstract Average source parameters of the 1968 Meckering, Australia earthquake are obtained by the inversion of body waves. The objectives of the inversion are the elements of the moment tensor and the source-time history. An optimum source depth of 3 km is determined, but because of source complexity the point source assumption fails and the moment tensor obtained at that depth has a large nondouble-couple term, compensated linear vector dipole = 34 per cent. The source parameters of the major double-couple are: strike = 341°; dip = 37°; rake = 61°; and seismic moment = 8.2 ×1025 dyne-cm. The source-time function is of approximately 4 sec duration, with a long rise time and a sharp fall-off. The fault length is constrained on the surface by the observed surface break, and results from vertical displacement modeling suggest a width of approximately 10 km in the middle, assuming a dip of 37°. That restricts the entire faulted area to lie above 6 km depth. Two finite fault models for the earthquake are presented, with rupture initiating at a point (1) near the top of the fault and (2) at the bottom of the fault. Both models produce similar long-period synthetics, but based on the short-period waveforms, model 1 is favored. It is argued that such a rupture process is the most reasonable in this cold shield region.


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