Location

2012/11/27 19:06:21 40.787 19.661 18.8 4.45 Albania

Arrival Times (from USGS)

Arrival time list

Felt Map

USGS Felt map for this earthquake

USGS Felt reports archive

Focal Mechanism

 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2012/11/27 19:06:21:0  40.79   19.66  18.8 4.4 Albania
 
 Stations used:
   HL.ITM HL.KEK HT.AGG HT.FNA HT.GRG HT.HORT HT.KNT HT.LIT 
   HT.LKD2 HT.SOH HT.SRS HT.THE MN.DIVS MN.PDG MN.TIR RO.BZS 
   RO.LOT SJ.BBLS SJ.FRGS 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   hp c 0.02 n 3
   lp c 0.06 n 3
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 9.55e+21 dyne-cm
  Mw = 3.92 
  Z  = 21 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1      150    70    65
   NP2       24    32   139
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   9.55e+21     58      26
    N   0.00e+00     23     159
    P  -9.55e+21     21     259

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx     1.89e+21
       Mxy    -5.13e+20
       Mxz     4.51e+21
       Myy    -7.46e+21
       Myz     5.05e+21
       Mzz     5.56e+21
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ##############                  
                 -####################-              
              ----#####################---           
             -----#######################--          
           -------#######################----        
          --------########################----       
         ----------###########   ##########----      
        -----------########### T ##########-----     
        ------------##########   ##########-----     
       --------------######################------    
       ---------------#####################------    
       ---   ----------####################------    
       --- P -----------##################-------    
        --   ------------#################------     
        ------------------###############-------     
         ------------------#############-------      
          -------------------##########-------       
           --------------------######--------        
             -------------------###--------          
              -------------------##-------           
                 ------------#########-              
                     ##############                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
  5.56e+21   4.51e+21  -5.05e+21 
  4.51e+21   1.89e+21   5.13e+20 
 -5.05e+21   5.13e+20  -7.46e+21 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.EU/20121127190621/index.html
        

Preferred Solution

The preferred solution from an analysis of the surface-wave spectral amplitude radiation pattern, waveform inversion and first motion observations is

      STK = 150
      DIP = 70
     RAKE = 65
       MW = 3.92
       HS = 21.0

The waveform inversion is preferred.

Moment Tensor Comparison

The following compares this source inversion to others
SLU
 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2012/11/27 19:06:21:0  40.79   19.66  18.8 4.4 Albania
 
 Stations used:
   HL.ITM HL.KEK HT.AGG HT.FNA HT.GRG HT.HORT HT.KNT HT.LIT 
   HT.LKD2 HT.SOH HT.SRS HT.THE MN.DIVS MN.PDG MN.TIR RO.BZS 
   RO.LOT SJ.BBLS SJ.FRGS 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   hp c 0.02 n 3
   lp c 0.06 n 3
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 9.55e+21 dyne-cm
  Mw = 3.92 
  Z  = 21 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1      150    70    65
   NP2       24    32   139
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   9.55e+21     58      26
    N   0.00e+00     23     159
    P  -9.55e+21     21     259

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx     1.89e+21
       Mxy    -5.13e+20
       Mxz     4.51e+21
       Myy    -7.46e+21
       Myz     5.05e+21
       Mzz     5.56e+21
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ##############                  
                 -####################-              
              ----#####################---           
             -----#######################--          
           -------#######################----        
          --------########################----       
         ----------###########   ##########----      
        -----------########### T ##########-----     
        ------------##########   ##########-----     
       --------------######################------    
       ---------------#####################------    
       ---   ----------####################------    
       --- P -----------##################-------    
        --   ------------#################------     
        ------------------###############-------     
         ------------------#############-------      
          -------------------##########-------       
           --------------------######--------        
             -------------------###--------          
              -------------------##-------           
                 ------------#########-              
                     ##############                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
  5.56e+21   4.51e+21  -5.05e+21 
  4.51e+21   1.89e+21   5.13e+20 
 -5.05e+21   5.13e+20  -7.46e+21 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.EU/20121127190621/index.html
	

Waveform Inversion

The focal mechanism was determined using broadband seismic waveforms. The location of the event and the and stations used for the waveform inversion are shown in the next figure.
Location of broadband stations used for waveform inversion

The program wvfgrd96 was used with good traces observed at short distance to determine the focal mechanism, depth and seismic moment. This technique requires a high quality signal and well determined velocity model for the Green functions. To the extent that these are the quality data, this type of mechanism should be preferred over the radiation pattern technique which requires the separate step of defining the pressure and tension quadrants and the correct strike.

The observed and predicted traces are filtered using the following gsac commands:

hp c 0.02 n 3
lp c 0.06 n 3
The results of this grid search from 0.5 to 19 km depth are as follow:

           DEPTH  STK   DIP  RAKE   MW    FIT
WVFGRD96    0.5   320    60     5   3.50 0.2795
WVFGRD96    1.0   320    75     5   3.51 0.2995
WVFGRD96    2.0   320    70    10   3.62 0.3554
WVFGRD96    3.0   315    90     5   3.66 0.3724
WVFGRD96    4.0   315    90    10   3.70 0.3592
WVFGRD96    5.0   315    90    10   3.72 0.3345
WVFGRD96    6.0   140    60    15   3.75 0.3137
WVFGRD96    7.0   145    85    60   3.72 0.3182
WVFGRD96    8.0   150    80    70   3.80 0.3422
WVFGRD96    9.0   150    80    70   3.81 0.3742
WVFGRD96   10.0   150    80    75   3.81 0.4026
WVFGRD96   11.0   155    75    75   3.84 0.4287
WVFGRD96   12.0   150    75    75   3.83 0.4501
WVFGRD96   13.0   150    75    70   3.85 0.4712
WVFGRD96   14.0   150    75    70   3.85 0.4880
WVFGRD96   15.0   150    75    70   3.86 0.5011
WVFGRD96   16.0   150    75    70   3.87 0.5135
WVFGRD96   17.0   150    70    70   3.88 0.5215
WVFGRD96   18.0   150    70    70   3.88 0.5297
WVFGRD96   19.0   150    70    65   3.90 0.5344
WVFGRD96   20.0   150    70    65   3.90 0.5367
WVFGRD96   21.0   150    70    65   3.92 0.5410
WVFGRD96   22.0   150    70    60   3.93 0.5397
WVFGRD96   23.0   145    75    60   3.93 0.5390
WVFGRD96   24.0   145    75    60   3.93 0.5370
WVFGRD96   25.0   145    75    60   3.94 0.5335
WVFGRD96   26.0   150    70    55   3.96 0.5297
WVFGRD96   27.0   150    70    55   3.97 0.5242
WVFGRD96   28.0   150    70    55   3.97 0.5186
WVFGRD96   29.0   150    70    50   3.98 0.5122

The best solution is

WVFGRD96   21.0   150    70    65   3.92 0.5410

The mechanism correspond to the best fit is
Figure 1. Waveform inversion focal mechanism

The best fit as a function of depth is given in the following figure:

Figure 2. Depth sensitivity for waveform mechanism

The comparison of the observed and predicted waveforms is given in the next figure. The red traces are the observed and the blue are the predicted. Each observed-predicted component is plotted to the same scale and peak amplitudes are indicated by the numbers to the left of each trace. A pair of numbers is given in black at the right of each predicted traces. The upper number it the time shift required for maximum correlation between the observed and predicted traces. This time shift is required because the synthetics are not computed at exactly the same distance as the observed and because the velocity model used in the predictions may not be perfect. A positive time shift indicates that the prediction is too fast and should be delayed to match the observed trace (shift to the right in this figure). A negative value indicates that the prediction is too slow. The lower number gives the percentage of variance reduction to characterize the individual goodness of fit (100% indicates a perfect fit).

The bandpass filter used in the processing and for the display was

hp c 0.02 n 3
lp c 0.06 n 3
Figure 3. Waveform comparison for selected depth
Focal mechanism sensitivity at the preferred depth. The red color indicates a very good fit to thewavefroms. Each solution is plotted as a vector at a given value of strike and dip with the angle of the vector representing the rake angle, measured, with respect to the upward vertical (N) in the figure.

A check on the assumed source location is possible by looking at the time shifts between the observed and predicted traces. The time shifts for waveform matching arise for several reasons:

Assuming only a mislocation, the time shifts are fit to a functional form:

 Time_shift = A + B cos Azimuth + C Sin Azimuth

The time shifts for this inversion lead to the next figure:

The derived shift in origin time and epicentral coordinates are given at the bottom of the figure.

Discussion

The Future

Should the national backbone of the USGS Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) be implemented with an interstation separation of 300 km, it is very likely that an earthquake such as this would have been recorded at distances on the order of 100-200 km. This means that the closest station would have information on source depth and mechanism that was lacking here.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Harley Benz, USGS, provided the USGS USNSN digital data. The digital data used in this study were provided by Natural Resources Canada through their AUTODRM site http://www.seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/nwfa/autodrm/autodrm_req_e.php, and IRIS using their BUD interface.

Thanks also to the many seismic network operators whose dedication make this effort possible: University of Alaska, University of Washington, Oregon State University, University of Utah, Montana Bureas of Mines, UC Berkely, Caltech, UC San Diego, Saint L ouis University, Universityof Memphis, Lamont Doehrty Earth Observatory, Boston College, the Iris stations and the Transportable Array of EarthScope.

Velocity Model

The WUS used for the waveform synthetic seismograms and for the surface wave eigenfunctions and dispersion is as follows:

MODEL.01
Model after     8 iterations
ISOTROPIC
KGS
FLAT EARTH
1-D
CONSTANT VELOCITY
LINE08
LINE09
LINE10
LINE11
      H(KM)   VP(KM/S)   VS(KM/S) RHO(GM/CC)         QP         QS       ETAP       ETAS      FREFP      FREFS
     1.9000     3.4065     2.0089     2.2150  0.302E-02  0.679E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     6.1000     5.5445     3.2953     2.6089  0.349E-02  0.784E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
    13.0000     6.2708     3.7396     2.7812  0.212E-02  0.476E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
    19.0000     6.4075     3.7680     2.8223  0.111E-02  0.249E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     0.0000     7.9000     4.6200     3.2760  0.164E-10  0.370E-10   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    

Quality Control

Here we tabulate the reasons for not using certain digital data sets

The following stations did not have a valid response files:

DATE=Tue Nov 27 16:33:34 CST 2012

Last Changed 2012/11/27