Location

2011/05/21 19:17:58 42.366 13.402 8.9 3.2 Italy

Arrival Times (from USGS)

Arrival time list

Felt Map

USGS Felt map for this earthquake

USGS Felt reports page for

Focal Mechanism

 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2011/05/21 19:17:58:0  42.37   13.40   8.9 3.2 Italy
 
 Stations used:
   IV.CERT IV.CESX IV.FAGN IV.FDMO IV.FIAM IV.OFFI 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   hp c 0.02 n 3
   lp c 0.10 n 3
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 5.43e+20 dyne-cm
  Mw = 3.09 
  Z  = 2 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1      136    52   -102
   NP2      335    40   -75
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   5.43e+20      6     234
    N   0.00e+00     10     143
    P  -5.43e+20     79     356

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx     1.62e+20
       Mxy     2.56e+20
       Mxz    -1.36e+20
       Myy     3.55e+20
       Myz    -3.71e+19
       Mzz    -5.17e+20
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ##############                  
                 ----------############              
              ----------------############           
             --------------------##########          
           ##----------------------##########        
          ###-----------------------##########       
         ####-------------------------#########      
        ######-------------------------#########     
        ######------------   -----------########     
       ########----------- P -----------#########    
       #########----------   ------------########    
       ##########------------------------########    
       ###########------------------------#######    
        ###########-----------------------######     
        #############---------------------######     
         ##############------------------######      
          #   ###########----------------#####       
            T ##############-------------####        
              ##################--------###          
              #########################---           
                 #####################-              
                     ##############                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
 -5.17e+20  -1.36e+20   3.71e+19 
 -1.36e+20   1.62e+20  -2.56e+20 
  3.71e+19  -2.56e+20   3.55e+20 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.IT/20110521191758/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 = 335
      DIP = 40
     RAKE = -75
       MW = 3.09
       HS = 2.0

The waveform inversion is preferred.

Moment Tensor Comparison

The following compares this source inversion to others
SLU
 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2011/05/21 19:17:58:0  42.37   13.40   8.9 3.2 Italy
 
 Stations used:
   IV.CERT IV.CESX IV.FAGN IV.FDMO IV.FIAM IV.OFFI 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   hp c 0.02 n 3
   lp c 0.10 n 3
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 5.43e+20 dyne-cm
  Mw = 3.09 
  Z  = 2 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1      136    52   -102
   NP2      335    40   -75
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   5.43e+20      6     234
    N   0.00e+00     10     143
    P  -5.43e+20     79     356

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx     1.62e+20
       Mxy     2.56e+20
       Mxz    -1.36e+20
       Myy     3.55e+20
       Myz    -3.71e+19
       Mzz    -5.17e+20
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ##############                  
                 ----------############              
              ----------------############           
             --------------------##########          
           ##----------------------##########        
          ###-----------------------##########       
         ####-------------------------#########      
        ######-------------------------#########     
        ######------------   -----------########     
       ########----------- P -----------#########    
       #########----------   ------------########    
       ##########------------------------########    
       ###########------------------------#######    
        ###########-----------------------######     
        #############---------------------######     
         ##############------------------######      
          #   ###########----------------#####       
            T ##############-------------####        
              ##################--------###          
              #########################---           
                 #####################-              
                     ##############                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
 -5.17e+20  -1.36e+20   3.71e+19 
 -1.36e+20   1.62e+20  -2.56e+20 
  3.71e+19  -2.56e+20   3.55e+20 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.IT/20110521191758/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 0.10 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    1.0   340    35   -65   3.02 0.4827
WVFGRD96    2.0   335    40   -75   3.09 0.5260
WVFGRD96    3.0   355    50   -40   3.07 0.4954
WVFGRD96    4.0    -5    50   -40   3.10 0.4653
WVFGRD96    5.0    -5    45   -40   3.16 0.4354
WVFGRD96    6.0    20    50    30   3.14 0.4146
WVFGRD96    7.0     5    40   -10   3.17 0.4161
WVFGRD96    8.0     5    45    -5   3.16 0.4130
WVFGRD96    9.0     5    45    -5   3.16 0.4056
WVFGRD96   10.0     5    45   -10   3.17 0.3968
WVFGRD96   11.0     0    40   -15   3.19 0.3861
WVFGRD96   12.0    15    55    20   3.17 0.3767
WVFGRD96   13.0    15    55    20   3.18 0.3672
WVFGRD96   14.0    10    40   -20   3.19 0.3554
WVFGRD96   15.0    25    35    10   3.23 0.3501
WVFGRD96   16.0    25    35    10   3.24 0.3448
WVFGRD96   17.0    25    35    10   3.25 0.3401
WVFGRD96   18.0    25    35    10   3.26 0.3357
WVFGRD96   19.0    25    35    10   3.27 0.3318
WVFGRD96   20.0   320    65    40   3.28 0.3287
WVFGRD96   21.0   320    65    40   3.29 0.3331
WVFGRD96   22.0   320    65    40   3.30 0.3358
WVFGRD96   23.0   320    65    40   3.31 0.3380
WVFGRD96   24.0   320    65    35   3.32 0.3380
WVFGRD96   25.0   320    65    35   3.33 0.3362
WVFGRD96   26.0   320    65    35   3.34 0.3327
WVFGRD96   27.0   320    65    35   3.35 0.3277
WVFGRD96   28.0   265    50   -85   3.39 0.3268
WVFGRD96   29.0   265    50   -85   3.41 0.3265

The best solution is

WVFGRD96    2.0   335    40   -75   3.09 0.5260

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 0.10 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

Velocity Model

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

MODEL.01
C.It. A. Di Luzio et al Earth Plan Lettrs 280 (2009) 1-12 Fig 5. 7-8 MODEL/SURF3
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
     1.5000     3.7497     2.1436     2.2753  0.500E-02  0.100E-01   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     3.0000     4.9399     2.8210     2.4858  0.500E-02  0.100E-01   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     3.0000     6.0129     3.4336     2.7058  0.500E-02  0.100E-01   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     7.0000     5.5516     3.1475     2.6093  0.167E-02  0.333E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
    15.0000     5.8805     3.3583     2.6770  0.167E-02  0.333E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     6.0000     7.1059     4.0081     3.0002  0.167E-02  0.333E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     8.0000     7.1000     3.9864     3.0120  0.167E-02  0.333E-02   0.00       0.00       1.00       1.00    
     0.0000     7.9000     4.4036     3.2760  0.167E-02  0.333E-02   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 May 24 03:21:10 CDT 2011

Last Changed 2011/05/21