scholarly journals Stress tensor computation from earthquake fault-plane solutions: an application to seismic swarms at Mt. Etna volcano (Italy)

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gresta ◽  
C. Musumeci
Keyword(s):  
Stress Tensor ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Etna Volcano ◽  
Exact Methods ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
Mt Etna ◽  
Regional Tectonic

Fault-plane solutions of some tens of local earthquakes which occurred at Mt. Etna volcano during 1983-1986 have been inverted for stress tensor parameters by the algorithm of Gephart and Forsyth (1984). Three seismic sequences were focused on which respectively occurred during a flank eruption (June 1983), just after the end of a subterminal eruption (October 1984) and during an inter-eruptive period (May 1986). The application to the three sets of data of both the "approximate" and the "exact" methods evidenced the stability of results, and the stress directions are well defined in spite of the small number of events used for the inversion. The s1 obtained agrees with the regional tectonic framework, nearly horizontal and oriented N-S, only in the shallow crust, and just after the 1984 eruption. This supports the hypothesis of a tectonic control on the end of the eruptive activities at Mt. Etna. Conversely, results concerning the depth range 10-30 km are in apparent disagreement with other investigations (Cocina et al., 1997), as well as with the regional tectonics. The stress was here found homogeneous, but with s1 respectively trending ENE-WSW (June 1983) and E-W (May 1986). We suggest that the stress field could be temporarily modified by a local stress regime driven by the intrusion of uprising magma.

Fault imaging at Mt Pollino (Italy) from relative location of microearthquakes

2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 637-648
Author(s):  
Ferdinando Napolitano ◽  
Danilo Galluzzo ◽  
Anna Gervasi ◽  
Roberto Scarpa ◽  
Mario La Rocca
Keyword(s):  
Fault Plane ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Tectonic Stress ◽  
Relative Location ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
Main Fault ◽  
Detailed Imaging ◽  
Good Agreement

SUMMARY Relative location of microearthquakes that occurred at Mt Pollino (Italy) from 2011 to 2013 have been analyzed with the aim of a detailed imaging of the geometry of active faults. We identified 27 clusters composed of a number of earthquakes from 9 to 33, with local magnitude in the range 0.6–2.7. The relative location shows that the distribution of hypocentres in each cluster is characterized by extension from few tens of meters to at most 350 m. For each cluster the hypocentre distribution was fitted by a plane to infer the fault orientation, and results were compared with the fault plane solutions corresponding to the focal mechanism of earthquakes of the same cluster. The comparison shows a good agreement in most of the cases. The relative location analysis, generally applied to earthquakes with similar waveform, has been improved to permit also the relative location of earthquakes characterized by not similar signals. To achieve this purpose a modified procedure that overcome the condition of very similar waveforms has been applied to estimate the time delay between first pulses of the master events. The relative location of master events of all clusters shows a precise imaging of the relative position of all analysed sources and allows also to follow with high accuracy the evolution in time of the seismic swarm within the selected periods. The hypocentre position of master events and the nearly parallel fitting planes of any clusters suggest that most of the analyzed earthquakes were produced by different patches of the same fault. The final results depict a main fault plane characterized by NW–SE strike, dip of about 35–45° and depth between 4.5 and 6.5 km b.s.l. Focal mechanisms, used also to evaluate the local stress field, are mostly of normal type with few strike slip solutions for the shallowest events. This result is in good agreement with the local tectonic stress regime that is characterized by predominant NE–SW transtension, as inferred from structural, seismological and geophysical data.

scholarly journals A functional tool to explore the reliability of micro-earthquake focal mechanism solution for seismotectonic purposes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Maria Adinolfi ◽  
Raffaella De Matteis ◽  
Rita De Nardis ◽  
Aldo Zollo
Keyword(s):  
Focal Mechanism ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
Focal Mechanisms ◽  
Seismic Network ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Focal Mechanism Solution ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
Focal Mechanism Solutions ◽  
Earthquake Focal Mechanism

Abstract. Improving the knowledge of seismogenic faults requires the integration of geological, seismological, and geophysical information. Among several analyses, the definition of earthquake focal mechanisms plays an essential role in providing information about the geometry of individual faults and the stress regime acting in a region. Fault plane solutions can be retrieved by several techniques operating in specific magnitude ranges, both in the time and frequency domain and using different data. For earthquakes of low magnitude, the limited number of available data and their uncertainties can compromise the stability of fault plane solutions. In this work, we propose a useful methodology to evaluate how well a seismic network used to monitor natural and/or induced micro-seismicity estimates focal mechanisms as function of magnitude, location, and kinematics of seismic source and consequently their reliability in defining seismotectonic models. To study the consistency of focal mechanism solutions, we use a Bayesian approach that jointly inverts the P/S long-period spectral-level ratios and the P polarities to infer the fault-plane solutions. We applied this methodology, by computing synthetic data, to the local seismic network operated in the Campania-Lucania Apennines (Southern Italy) to monitor the complex normal fault system activated during the Ms 6.9, 1980 earthquake. We demonstrate that the method we propose can have a double purpose. It can be a valid tool to design or to test the performance of local seismic networks and more generally it can be used to assign an absolute uncertainty to focal mechanism solutions fundamental for seismotectonic studies.

scholarly journals Seismological constraints for the dyke emplacement of the July-August 2001 lateral eruption at Mt. Etna volcano, Italy

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Patanè ◽  
Eugenio Privitera ◽  
Stefano Gresta ◽  
Aybige Akinci ◽  
Salvatore Arpalone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Stress ◽  
Focal Mechanisms ◽  
Fracture System ◽  
Etna Volcano ◽  
Upward Migration ◽  
Mt Etna ◽  
Seismic Swarms ◽  
Earthquake Distribution ◽  
Volcanic Pile ◽  
Summit Region

In this paper we report seismological evidence regarding the emplacement of the dike that fed the July 18 - August 9, 2001 lateral eruption at Mt. Etna volcano. The shallow intrusion and the opening of the eruptive fracture system, which mostly occurred during July 12, and July 18, were accompanied by one of the most intense seismic swarms of the last 20 years. A total of 2694 earthquakes (1 £ Md £ 3.9) were recorded from the beginning of the swarm (July 12) to the end of the eruption (August 9). Seismicity shows the upward migration of the dike from the basement to the relatively thin volcanic pile. A clear hypocentral migration was observed, well constraining the upwards propagation of a near-vertical dike, oriented roughly N-S, and located a few kilometers south of the summit region. Earthquake distribution and orientation of the P-axes from focal mechanisms indicate that the swarm was caused by the local stress source related to the dike intrusion.

scholarly journals A functional tool to explore the reliability of micro-earthquake focal mechanism solutions for seismotectonic purposes

Solid Earth ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83
Author(s):  
Guido Maria Adinolfi ◽  
Raffaella De Matteis ◽  
Rita de Nardis ◽  
Aldo Zollo
Keyword(s):  
Focal Mechanism ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Focal Mechanisms ◽  
Seismic Network ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
Focal Mechanism Solutions ◽  
Earthquake Focal Mechanism

Abstract. Improving the knowledge of seismogenic faults requires the integration of geological, seismological, and geophysical information. Among several analyses, the definition of earthquake focal mechanisms plays an essential role in providing information about the geometry of individual faults and the stress regime acting in a region. Fault plane solutions can be retrieved by several techniques operating in specific magnitude ranges, both in the time and frequency domain and using different data. For earthquakes of low magnitude, the limited number of available data and their uncertainties can compromise the stability of fault plane solutions. In this work, we propose a useful methodology to evaluate how well a seismic network, used to monitor natural and/or induced micro-seismicity, estimates focal mechanisms as a function of magnitude, location, and kinematics of seismic source and consequently their reliability in defining seismotectonic models. To study the consistency of focal mechanism solutions, we use a Bayesian approach that jointly inverts the P/S long-period spectral-level ratios and the P polarities to infer the fault plane solutions. We applied this methodology, by computing synthetic data, to the local seismic network operating in the Campania–Lucania Apennines (southern Italy) aimed to monitor the complex normal fault system activated during the Ms 6.9, 1980 earthquake. We demonstrate that the method we propose is effective and can be adapted for other case studies with a double purpose. It can be a valid tool to design or to test the performance of local seismic networks, and more generally it can be used to assign an absolute uncertainty to focal mechanism solutions fundamental for seismotectonic studies.

Stress tensor orientation derived from fault plane solutions in the southwestern Alps

1997 ◽  
Vol 102 (B4) ◽  
pp. 8171-8185 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Eva ◽  
S. Solarino ◽  
C. Eva ◽  
G. Neri
Keyword(s):  
Stress Tensor ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Southwestern Alps

scholarly journals Present-day stress state in northwestern Syria

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-316
Author(s):  
Mohamad Khir Abdul-Wahed ◽  
Mohammed ALISSA
Keyword(s):  
Fault Plane ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Stress Regime

Northwestern Syria is a key area in the eastern Mediterranean to study the active tectonics and stress pattern across the Arabia-Eurasia convergent plate boundary. This study aims to outline the present-day stress regime in this region of Syria using the fault plane solutions of the largest events recorded by the Syrian National Seismological Network from 1995 to 2011. A dataset of fault-plane solutions was obtained for 48 events having at least 5 P-wave polarities. The tectonic regime for most of these events is extensional and produces normal mechanisms in agreement with the local configurations of the seismogenic faults in the region. Strike-slip mechanisms are more scarce and restricted to certain areas, such as the northern extension of the Dead Sea fault system. The results of the current study reveal the spatial variations of SHmax orientation across the northwestern Syria region. This spatial variation of the present-day stress field highlights the role of main geometrically complex shear zones in the present-day stress pattern of northwestern Syria. However, these results show, regardless of the relatively small magnitudes of the studied events, they provide a picture of the local stress deviations that have currently been taking place along the local active faults.

Fault plane solutions for northeastern United States earthquakes

1981 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1875-1882
Author(s):  
Jay J. Pulli ◽  
M. Nafi Toksöz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
New England ◽  
Fault Plane ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Stress Concentrations ◽  
Fault Plane Solutions ◽  
Entire Area

Abstract Fault plane solutions for eight earthquakes occurring in the northeastern United States have been determined using P-wave first motions and a computer algorithm for picking all valid solutions. The predominant mechanism in the area is thrust faulting, however the direction of the P axis is not consistent throughout the entire area. In central New England (Maine-New Hampshire), the P axis trends nearly E-W. In southeastern New England, the P axis trends N-S to NE-SW. In the Adirondacks region of New York, the P axis trends NE-SW as previously reported by Yang and Aggarwal (1981). Although the stress distribution appears to be complicated, as in the Central United States (Street et al., 1974), an underlying E-W compressive stress may exist in the New England area. These small earthquakes may represent the response to local stress concentrations.

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