Location

Location ANSS

The ANSS event ID is nm608509 and the event page is at https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nm608509/executive.

2011/02/28 05:00:50 35.269 -92.355 3.2 4.7 Arkansas

Focal Mechanism

 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2011/02/28 05:00:50:0  35.27  -92.36   3.2 4.7 Arkansas
 
 Stations used:
   AG.FCAR AG.HHAR AG.WLAR NM.UALR TA.S40A TA.T38A TA.T39A 
   TA.T40A TA.U38A TA.U39A TA.U40A TA.V37A TA.V38A TA.V39A 
   TA.W38A TA.W39A TA.W40A TA.X38A TA.X39A TA.X40A TA.Y38A 
   TA.Y39A TA.Y40A US.MIAR 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   hp c 0.02 n 3
   lp c 0.0625 n 3
 
 Best Fitting Double Couple
  Mo = 1.19e+23 dyne-cm
  Mw = 4.65 
  Z  = 4 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1       26    85   -170
   NP2      295    80    -5
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   1.19e+23      4     160
    N   0.00e+00     79      52
    P  -1.19e+23     11     251

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx     9.22e+22
       Mxy    -7.36e+22
       Mxz     1.33e+20
       Myy    -8.87e+22
       Myz     2.27e+22
       Mzz    -3.54e+21
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ##############                  
                 ####################--              
              ######################------           
             ######################--------          
           ########################----------        
          ########################------------       
         ---#####################--------------      
        -----------#############----------------     
        ----------------########----------------     
       ---------------------###------------------    
       -----------------------##-----------------    
       ----------------------######--------------    
       ---------------------###########----------    
        -   ---------------###############------     
        - P --------------##################----     
            -------------#####################-      
          --------------######################       
           ------------######################        
             ---------#####################          
              -------#####################           
                 ---#############   ###              
                     ############ T                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
 -3.54e+21   1.33e+20  -2.27e+22 
  1.33e+20   9.22e+22   7.36e+22 
 -2.27e+22   7.36e+22  -8.87e+22 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.NA/20110228050050/index.html
        

Preferred Solution

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

      STK = 295
      DIP = 80
     RAKE = -5
       MW = 4.65
       HS = 4.0

The NDK file is 20110228050050.ndk The waveform inversion is preferred.

Magnitudes

Given the availability of digital waveforms for determination of the moment tensor, this section documents the added processing leading to mLg, if appropriate to the region, and ML by application of the respective IASPEI formulae. As a research study, the linear distance term of the IASPEI formula for ML is adjusted to remove a linear distance trend in residuals to give a regionally defined ML. The defined ML uses horizontal component recordings, but the same procedure is applied to the vertical components since there may be some interest in vertical component ground motions. Residual plots versus distance may indicate interesting features of ground motion scaling in some distance ranges. A residual plot of the regionalized magnitude is given as a function of distance and azimuth, since data sets may transcend different wave propagation provinces.

mLg Magnitude


Left: mLg computed using the IASPEI formula. Center: mLg residuals versus epicentral distance ; the values used for the trimmed mean magnitude estimate are indicated. Right: residuals as a function of distance and azimuth.

ML Magnitude


Left: ML computed using the IASPEI formula for Horizontal components. Center: 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. Right: Residuals from new relation as a function of distance and azimuth.


Left: ML computed using the IASPEI formula for Vertical components (research). Center: 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. Right: Residuals from new relation as a function of distance and azimuth.

Context

The left panel of the next figure presents the focal mechanism for this earthquake (red) in the context of other nearby events (blue) in the SLU Moment Tensor Catalog. 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). Thus context plot is useful for assessing the appropriateness of the moment tensor of this event.

Waveform Inversion using wvfgrd96

The focal mechanism was determined using broadband seismic waveforms. The location of the event (star) and the stations used for (red) 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's 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 0.0625 n 3
The results of this grid search are as follow:

           DEPTH  STK   DIP  RAKE   MW    FIT
WVFGRD96    0.5   295    80    -5   4.56 0.6149
WVFGRD96    1.0   295    80    -5   4.58 0.6451
WVFGRD96    2.0   115    90     0   4.61 0.6884
WVFGRD96    3.0   295    85    -5   4.64 0.7082
WVFGRD96    4.0   295    80    -5   4.65 0.7114
WVFGRD96    5.0   295    80    -5   4.66 0.7046
WVFGRD96    6.0   295    80    -5   4.67 0.6931
WVFGRD96    7.0   295    80    -5   4.67 0.6792
WVFGRD96    8.0   295    75     5   4.68 0.6699
WVFGRD96    9.0   295    75     5   4.69 0.6635
WVFGRD96   10.0   295    70     5   4.70 0.6573
WVFGRD96   11.0   295    70     5   4.71 0.6496
WVFGRD96   12.0   295    70     5   4.71 0.6421
WVFGRD96   13.0   295    70     5   4.72 0.6353
WVFGRD96   14.0   295    70     5   4.72 0.6287
WVFGRD96   15.0   295    70     5   4.72 0.6223
WVFGRD96   16.0   295    70     5   4.73 0.6161
WVFGRD96   17.0   295    70     5   4.74 0.6098
WVFGRD96   18.0   295    70     5   4.74 0.6033
WVFGRD96   19.0   295    75     5   4.75 0.5970
WVFGRD96   20.0   295    70     5   4.76 0.5911
WVFGRD96   21.0   295    70     5   4.76 0.5834
WVFGRD96   22.0   295    70     5   4.77 0.5756
WVFGRD96   23.0   295    70     5   4.77 0.5677
WVFGRD96   24.0   295    70     5   4.78 0.5603
WVFGRD96   25.0   295    70     5   4.78 0.5530
WVFGRD96   26.0   295    70     5   4.79 0.5455
WVFGRD96   27.0   295    70     5   4.79 0.5379
WVFGRD96   28.0   295    70     0   4.80 0.5303
WVFGRD96   29.0   295    70     0   4.81 0.5233

The best solution is

WVFGRD96    4.0   295    80    -5   4.65 0.7114

The mechanism corresponding 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, the velocity model used in the predictions may not be perfect and the epicentral parameters may be be off. 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 0.0625 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. The time scale is relative to the first trace sample.

Focal mechanism sensitivity at the preferred depth. The red color indicates a very good fit to the waveforms. 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.

Surface-Wave Focal Mechanism

The following figure shows the stations used in the grid search for the best focal mechanism to fit the surface-wave spectral amplitudes of the Love and Rayleigh waves.
Location of broadband stations used to obtain focal mechanism from surface-wave spectral amplitudes

The surface-wave determined focal mechanism is shown here.


  NODAL PLANES 

  
  STK=      28.24
  DIP=      80.15
 RAKE=     169.85
  
             OR
  
  STK=     119.99
  DIP=      80.00
 RAKE=      10.00
 
 
DEPTH = 5.0 km
 
Mw = 4.77
Best Fit 0.8549 - P-T axis plot gives solutions with FIT greater than FIT90

Surface-wave analysis

Surface wave analysis was performed using codes from Computer Programs in Seismology, specifically the multiple filter analysis program do_mft and the surface-wave radiation pattern search program srfgrd96.

Data preparation

Digital data were collected, instrument response removed and traces converted to Z, R an T components. Multiple filter analysis was applied to the Z and T traces to obtain the Rayleigh- and Love-wave spectral amplitudes, respectively. These were input to the search program which examined all depths between 1 and 25 km and all possible mechanisms.
Best mechanism fit as a function of depth. The preferred depth is given above. Lower hemisphere projection

Pressure-tension axis trends. Since the surface-wave spectra search does not distinguish between P and T axes and since there is a 180 ambiguity in strike, all possible P and T axes are plotted. First motion data and waveforms will be used to select the preferred mechanism. The purpose of this plot is to provide an idea of the possible range of solutions. The P and T-axes for all mechanisms with goodness of fit greater than 0.9 FITMAX (above) are plotted here.


Focal mechanism sensitivity at the preferred depth. The red color indicates a very good fit to the Love and Rayleigh wave radiation patterns. 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. Because of the symmetry of the spectral amplitude rediation patterns, only strikes from 0-180 degrees are sampled.

Love-wave radiation patterns

Rayleigh-wave radiation patterns