Near-surface structure of the Sodankylä area in Finland, obtained by passive seismic interferometry

Controlled-source seismic exploration surveys are not always possible in nature-protected areas. As an alternative, the application of passive seismic techniques in such areas can be proposed. In our study, we show results of passive seismic interferometry application for mapping the uppermost crust in the area of active mineral exploration in northern Finland. We utilize continuous seismic data acquired by the Sercel Unite wireless multichannel recording system along several profiles during XSoDEx (eXperiment of SOdankylä Deep Exploration) multidisciplinary geophysical project. The objective of XSoDEx was to obtain a structural image of the upper crust in the Sodankylä area of northern Finland in order to achieve a better understanding of the mineral system at depth. The key experiment of the project was a high-resolution seismic reflection experiment. In addition, continuous passive seismic data were acquired in parallel with reflection seismic data acquisition. Due to this, the length of passive data suitable for noise cross-correlation was limited from several hours to a couple of days. Analysis of the passive data demonstrated that dominating sources of ambient noise are non-stationary and have different origins across the XSoDEx study area. As the long data registration period and isotropic azimuthal distribution of noise sources are two major conditions for empirical Green function (EGF) extraction under the diffuse field approximation assumption, it was not possible to apply the conventional techniques of passive seismic interferometry. To find the way to obtain EGFs, we used numerical modelling in order to investigate properties of seismic noise originating from sources with different characteristics and propagating inside synthetic heterogeneous Earth models representing real geological conditions in the XSoDEx study area. The modelling demonstrated that scattering of ballistic waves on irregular shape heterogeneities, such as massive sulfides or mafic intrusions, could produce a diffused wavefield composed mainly of scattered surface waves. In our study, we show that this scattered wavefield can be used to retrieve reliable EGFs from short-term and non-stationary data using special techniques. One of the possible solutions is application of “signal-to-noise ratio stacking” (SNRS). The EGFs calculated for the XSoDEx profiles were inverted, in order to obtain S-wave velocity models down to the depth of 300 m. The obtained velocity models agree well with geological data and complement the results of reflection seismic data interpretation.

Deciphering the source parameters and genesis of the 2017, Mw 4 Montesano earthquake close to the Val d’Agri Oilfield (Italy)

<p>On October 27<sup>th</sup>, 2017, a M<sub>w</sub> 4 earthquake occurred close to the municipality of Montesano sulla Marcellana, less than 10 km external to the concession of the largest European on-shore hydrocarbon reservoir - the Val d’Agri oilfield (Southern Italy). Being a weak event located outside the extended monitoring domain of the industrial concession, the relevance of this earthquake and possible links with the hydrocarbon exploitation were not deepened. The study of weak to moderate earthquakes can improve the characterization of the potentially destructive seismic hazard of this particular area, already struck by M>6.5 episodes in the past. Taking advantage of a wide coverage of seismic stations deployed in the VA region, we analyze the source parameters of this M<sub>w</sub> 4 earthquake applying advanced seismological techniques to estimate the uncertainties derived from the moment tensor inversion and identify plausible directivity effects. The moment tensor is dominated by a NW-SE oriented normal faulting with a centroid depth of 14 km. A single M<sub>L</sub> 2.1 aftershock was recorded and used as empirical Green function to calculate the apparent source time function for the mainshock. Apparent durations (in the range 0.11 - 0.21 s, obtained from S-waves) define an azimuthal pattern which reveals an asymmetric bilateral rupture with the 70% of the rupture propagation in the N310°W direction, suggesting a rupture plane dipping to the SW. Our results conclude that the Montesano earthquake activated a deeper fault segment associated to the Eastern Agri Fault System close to the basement. The relative low trigger potential below 10% based on depletion-induced stress changes discards an induced or triggered event due to the long-term hydrocarbon extraction in the Val d’Agri oilfield, and it rather suggests a natural cause due to the local tectonic stress.</p>

Seismoelectromagnetic effects associated with the 2017 February 15 Veracruz earthquake (Mw = 4.8)

SUMMARY In this study, we investigated correlations between electromagnetic and seismic signals of the 2017 February 15 Veracruz, Mexico, earthquake (Mw = 4.8). We carried out a time–frequency misfit analysis based on the continuous wavelet transform in order to compare electric, magnetic and seismic records accurately. This analysis was performed for horizontal and vertical components separately. Our results from time–frequency misfit and goodness-of-fit criteria confirm the general similarity between seismic and electromagnetic signals both in frequency and time. Additionally, we studied the behaviour of peak amplitudes of seismoelectromagenetic records as a function of magnitude and distance. Our observations are in good agreement with previous studies, confirming scaling with magnitude and attenuation with distance. Radiated seismic energy estimations were performed with two methods: integration of velocity records and empirical Green function, respectively. Estimated energy magnitudes (4.35 < Me < 4.98) are consistent with reported seismic magnitudes for this event. We propose a method for determining electric and magnetic coseismic energies based on the concept of energy flux as implemented in the frequency domain by the integration of electromagnetic records. The calculated energies showed that the radiated seismic energy is much higher than the electric and magnetic energies.

The Simulation of Strong Ground Motion Using Empirical Green Function and Stochastic Method for Southern Taiwan Area

This study presents strong ground motion simulation methods for the future fragility study of a power plant in Southern Taiwan. The modified stochastic method and empirical Green function method are utilized to synthesize the strong ground motions of specific events. A modified physical random function model of strong ground motions for specific sites and events is presented in this study with verification of sample level. Based on the special models of the source, path, and local site, the random variables of the physical random function of strong ground motions is obtained. The inverse Fourier transform is used to simulate strong ground motions. For the empirical Green function method, the observed site records from small earthquake events occurring around the source area of a large earthquake are collected to simulate the broadband strong ground motion from a large earthquake event. Finally, an application of proposed two simulated methods of this study for simulating the ground motion records of Nishi-Akashi Station at 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2006 Southern Taiwan PingDong earthquake are presented.

A source study of the October, 2007 earthquake sequence of Morelia, Mexico

En este artículo se analiza una secuencia de siete sismos (2.5<Mw<3.0) ocurridos en la Ciudad de Morelia, México. Esta serie de temblores ocurrieron en un intervalo de 33 horas en el mes de octubre de 2007. Fueron registrados por dos estaciones locales ubicadas en esa Ciudad. Morelia se encuentra en la la parte central de la Faja Volcánica Trans-Mexicana (CTMVB, por sus siglas en inglés). Las formas de onda y los espectros de estos sismos son sorprendentemente similares, sugiriendo que sus localizaciones y mecanismos focales son casi idénticos. La inversión de forma de onda, restringida a partir de fallas descritas anteriormente en el área (rumbo ~E-O, buzando al norte), arroja un mecanismo focal definido por , y , lo cual es consistente con los mecanismos focales reportados previamente en la región. Dado que, para estos pequeños eventos, la señal se confunde con el ruido para frecuencias f<0.2Hz, se estimó el momento sísmico a partir del espectro de las ondas S en una banda de frecuencias definida en el intervalo 0.2≤f≤1Hz. Sin embargo, en esta banda de frecuencias, existe una amplificación significativa de las ondas símicas debida a una capa de baja velocidad provocada por rocas volcánicas superficiales presentes en cualquier sitio localizado en el CTMVB. En la estimación del y en la interpretación de los espectros observados, se aproximó esta amplificación usando el cociente espectral H/Z. Asumiendo un modelo de fuente , los espectros observados pueden ser explicados con ternas (Δσ, t*, ) (5MPa, 0.02s, 20Hz) y (20 MPa, 0.03 s, 20 Hz), donde Δσ es la caída de esfuerzos asumiendo el modelo de Brune y t* y .son los parámetros de atenuación. Con el fin de simular el movimiento fuerte del terreno, para un sismo postulado de , se usaron estas combinaciones de parámetros junto con las técnicas de Empirical Green Function (EGF) y Random Vibration Theory (RVT). Las aceleraciones horizontales PGA y velocidades PGV en los sitios de referencia están en el rango de 23 a 46 cm/ y de 1.5 a 3.52 cm/s para una caída de esfuerzos de Δσ=5Mpa. Los valores pronosticados para una caída de esfuerzos Δσ=20Mpa son casi el doble (44-89 cm/ and 2.5-6.1 cm/s). Las estimaciones obtenidas, especialmente para Δσ=5MPa, son considerablemente más pequeñas que las reportadas a partir de datos globales. Esta comparación sugiere que existe una alta atenuación en la región volcánica o una inadecuada estimación del efecto de t* y .