Location

Location ANSS

2018/01/18 02:47:46 59.779 -136.704 4.3 4.5 Alaska

Focal Mechanism

 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2018/01/18 02:47:46:0  59.78 -136.70   4.3 4.5 Alaska
 
 Stations used:
   AK.BARN AK.BCP AK.BESE AK.GLB AK.JIS AK.PIN AT.SIT AT.SKAG 
   CN.DLBC CN.HYT CN.WHY NY.FARO NY.MAYO NY.WTLY TA.M30M 
   TA.M31M TA.N31M TA.O30N TA.P32M TA.P33M TA.R32K TA.S31K 
   TA.S32K TA.S34M TA.T33K 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   cut o DIST/3.3 -30 o DIST/3.3 +50
   rtr
   taper w 0.1
   hp c 0.03 n 3 
   lp c 0.10 n 3 
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 3.20e+22 dyne-cm
  Mw = 4.27 
  Z  = 7 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1      290    55    45
   NP2      170    55   135
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   3.20e+22     55     140
    N   0.00e+00     35     320
    P  -3.20e+22      0      50

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx    -6.86e+21
       Mxy    -2.10e+22
       Mxz    -1.17e+22
       Myy    -1.44e+22
       Myz     9.55e+21
       Mzz     2.13e+22
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ###-----------                  
                 #####-----------------              
              #######---------------------           
             #######-----------------------          
           #########----------------------- P        
          #######--####--------------------          
         ##--------############----------------      
        -----------################-------------     
        -----------###################----------     
       ------------######################--------    
       ------------########################------    
       ------------#########################-----    
       ------------###########################---    
        ------------############   ############-     
        ------------############ T ############-     
         ------------###########   ############      
          ------------########################       
           ------------######################        
             -----------###################          
              ------------################           
                 ----------############              
                     ---------#####                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
  2.13e+22  -1.17e+22  -9.55e+21 
 -1.17e+22  -6.86e+21   2.10e+22 
 -9.55e+21   2.10e+22  -1.44e+22 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.NA/20180118024746/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 = 290
      DIP = 55
     RAKE = 45
       MW = 4.27
       HS = 7.0

The NDK file is 20180118024746.ndk The waveform inversion is preferred.

Moment Tensor Comparison

The following compares this source inversion to others
SLU
 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2018/01/18 02:47:46:0  59.78 -136.70   4.3 4.5 Alaska
 
 Stations used:
   AK.BARN AK.BCP AK.BESE AK.GLB AK.JIS AK.PIN AT.SIT AT.SKAG 
   CN.DLBC CN.HYT CN.WHY NY.FARO NY.MAYO NY.WTLY TA.M30M 
   TA.M31M TA.N31M TA.O30N TA.P32M TA.P33M TA.R32K TA.S31K 
   TA.S32K TA.S34M TA.T33K 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   cut o DIST/3.3 -30 o DIST/3.3 +50
   rtr
   taper w 0.1
   hp c 0.03 n 3 
   lp c 0.10 n 3 
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 3.20e+22 dyne-cm
  Mw = 4.27 
  Z  = 7 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1      290    55    45
   NP2      170    55   135
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   3.20e+22     55     140
    N   0.00e+00     35     320
    P  -3.20e+22      0      50

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx    -6.86e+21
       Mxy    -2.10e+22
       Mxz    -1.17e+22
       Myy    -1.44e+22
       Myz     9.55e+21
       Mzz     2.13e+22
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ###-----------                  
                 #####-----------------              
              #######---------------------           
             #######-----------------------          
           #########----------------------- P        
          #######--####--------------------          
         ##--------############----------------      
        -----------################-------------     
        -----------###################----------     
       ------------######################--------    
       ------------########################------    
       ------------#########################-----    
       ------------###########################---    
        ------------############   ############-     
        ------------############ T ############-     
         ------------###########   ############      
          ------------########################       
           ------------######################        
             -----------###################          
              ------------################           
                 ----------############              
                     ---------#####                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
  2.13e+22  -1.17e+22  -9.55e+21 
 -1.17e+22  -6.86e+21   2.10e+22 
 -9.55e+21   2.10e+22  -1.44e+22 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.NA/20180118024746/index.html
	

Magnitudes

ML Magnitude


(a) ML computed using the IASPEI formula for Horizontal components; (b) ML residuals computed using a modified IASPEI formula that accounts for path specific attenuation; the values used for the trimmed mean are indicated. The ML relation used for each figure is given at the bottom of each plot.


(a) ML computed using the IASPEI formula for Vertical components (research); (b) ML residuals computed using a modified IASPEI formula that accounts for path specific attenuation; the values used for the trimmed mean are indicated. The ML relation used for each figure is given at the bottom of each plot.

Context

The next figure presents the focal mechanism for this earthquake (red) in the context of other events (blue) in the SLU Moment Tensor Catalog which are within ± 0.5 degrees of the new event. This comparison is shown in the left panel of the figure. The right panel shows the inferred direction of maximum compressive stress and the type of faulting (green is strike-slip, red is normal, blue is thrust; oblique is shown by a combination of colors).

Waveform Inversion using wvfgrd96

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:

cut o DIST/3.3 -30 o DIST/3.3 +50
rtr
taper w 0.1
hp c 0.03 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    90    80   -55   4.24 0.5634
WVFGRD96    2.0    90    85   -55   4.25 0.5606
WVFGRD96    3.0   280    75    50   4.24 0.5930
WVFGRD96    4.0   290    60    50   4.26 0.6541
WVFGRD96    5.0   290    55    50   4.28 0.7019
WVFGRD96    6.0   290    55    50   4.28 0.7222
WVFGRD96    7.0   290    55    45   4.27 0.7238
WVFGRD96    8.0   285    60    40   4.27 0.7176
WVFGRD96    9.0   285    60    40   4.27 0.7041
WVFGRD96   10.0   285    60    40   4.30 0.6895
WVFGRD96   11.0   285    60    40   4.30 0.6675
WVFGRD96   12.0   280    65    35   4.31 0.6440
WVFGRD96   13.0   280    65    35   4.31 0.6183
WVFGRD96   14.0   280    65    30   4.31 0.5917
WVFGRD96   15.0   280    65    30   4.32 0.5658
WVFGRD96   16.0   280    65    30   4.32 0.5403
WVFGRD96   17.0   280    65    30   4.33 0.5154
WVFGRD96   18.0   280    65    30   4.33 0.4918
WVFGRD96   19.0   280    65    30   4.34 0.4696
WVFGRD96   20.0   280    65    35   4.36 0.4466
WVFGRD96   21.0   280    65    35   4.36 0.4258
WVFGRD96   22.0   285    65    35   4.36 0.4062
WVFGRD96   23.0   285    65    35   4.36 0.3882
WVFGRD96   24.0   285    65    40   4.37 0.3714
WVFGRD96   25.0   285    65    40   4.37 0.3557
WVFGRD96   26.0    90    65   -20   4.35 0.3422
WVFGRD96   27.0    90    60   -20   4.36 0.3342
WVFGRD96   28.0    90    60   -20   4.36 0.3264
WVFGRD96   29.0   100    60    20   4.36 0.3194

The best solution is

WVFGRD96    7.0   290    55    45   4.27 0.7238

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

cut o DIST/3.3 -30 o DIST/3.3 +50
rtr
taper w 0.1
hp c 0.03 n 3 
lp c 0.10 n 3 
Figure 3. Waveform comparison for selected depth. Red: observed; Blue - predicted. The time shift with respect to the model prediction is indicated. The percent of fit is also indicated.
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

Acknowledgements

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

Velocity Model

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

MODEL.01
CUS Model with Q from simple gamma values
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
  1.0000  5.0000  2.8900  2.5000 0.172E-02 0.387E-02 0.00  0.00  1.00  1.00 
  9.0000  6.1000  3.5200  2.7300 0.160E-02 0.363E-02 0.00  0.00  1.00  1.00 
 10.0000  6.4000  3.7000  2.8200 0.149E-02 0.336E-02 0.00  0.00  1.00  1.00 
 20.0000  6.7000  3.8700  2.9020 0.000E-04 0.000E-04 0.00  0.00  1.00  1.00 
  0.0000  8.1500  4.7000  3.3640 0.194E-02 0.431E-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:

Last Changed Wed Jan 17 21:08:04 CST 2018