Location

Location ANSS

The ANSS event ID is ak018b160qu2 and the event page is at https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ak018b160qu2/executive.

2018/08/28 15:18:44 65.178 -150.572 16.9 4.7 Alaska

Focal Mechanism

 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2018/08/28 15:18:44:0  65.18 -150.57  16.9 4.7 Alaska
 
 Stations used:
   AK.BPAW AK.BWN AK.CCB AK.COLD AK.CUT AK.DHY AK.GHO AK.GLB 
   AK.HDA AK.KLU AK.KNK AK.MCK AK.MDM AK.MLY AK.NEA2 AK.PPD 
   AK.PWL AK.RC01 AK.RIDG AK.RND AK.SAW AK.SCM AK.SCRK AK.SKN 
   AK.WRH AT.PMR AT.SVW2 CN.DAWY IU.COLA TA.B21K TA.C26K 
   TA.D22K TA.D23K TA.D25K TA.E18K TA.E21K TA.E23K TA.E24K 
   TA.F17K TA.F19K TA.F20K TA.F21K TA.F24K TA.F25K TA.F26K 
   TA.F28M TA.G16K TA.G18K TA.G19K TA.G21K TA.G23K TA.G24K 
   TA.G27K TA.H19K TA.H21K TA.H24K TA.I17K TA.I20K TA.I23K 
   TA.I28M TA.I29M TA.J16K TA.J17K TA.J19K TA.J20K TA.J25K 
   TA.J26L TA.J29N TA.L19K TA.L26K TA.L27K TA.M17K TA.M19K 
   TA.M22K TA.M26K TA.M27K TA.O19K TA.POKR TA.TOLK US.EGAK 
 
 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  = 16 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1       10    85    10
   NP2      279    80   175
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   3.20e+22     11     235
    N   0.00e+00     79      36
    P  -3.20e+22      3     144

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx    -1.08e+22
       Mxy     2.97e+22
       Mxz    -1.75e+21
       Myy     9.80e+21
       Myz    -5.86e+21
       Mzz     9.65e+20
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     -----------###                  
                 ---------------#######              
              -----------------###########           
             ------------------############          
           --------------------##############        
          ---------------------###############       
         ----------------------################      
        ----------------------##################     
        ----------------------##################     
       ####################---###################    
       ######################-------#############    
       ######################--------------######    
       ######################------------------##    
        ####################--------------------     
        ####################--------------------     
         ##   ##############-------------------      
          # T #############-------------------       
              #############------------------        
             #############-------------   -          
              ############------------- P            
                 ########--------------              
                     ####----------                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
  9.65e+20  -1.75e+21   5.86e+21 
 -1.75e+21  -1.08e+22  -2.97e+22 
  5.86e+21  -2.97e+22   9.80e+21 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.NA/20180828151844/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 = 10
      DIP = 85
     RAKE = 10
       MW = 4.27
       HS = 16.0

The NDK file is 20180828151844.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:

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 are as follow:

           DEPTH  STK   DIP  RAKE   MW    FIT
WVFGRD96    1.0     0    90    -5   3.68 0.2450
WVFGRD96    2.0     5    90     0   3.81 0.3446
WVFGRD96    3.0   185    90   -10   3.87 0.3837
WVFGRD96    4.0     5    80   -15   3.92 0.4096
WVFGRD96    5.0     5    75   -20   3.96 0.4412
WVFGRD96    6.0     5    75   -15   4.00 0.4736
WVFGRD96    7.0     5    75   -15   4.04 0.5073
WVFGRD96    8.0     5    75   -15   4.09 0.5421
WVFGRD96    9.0     5    75   -15   4.12 0.5683
WVFGRD96   10.0     5    75   -10   4.15 0.5916
WVFGRD96   11.0     5    75   -10   4.18 0.6111
WVFGRD96   12.0     5    75   -10   4.20 0.6253
WVFGRD96   13.0     5    80   -10   4.22 0.6359
WVFGRD96   14.0     5    80   -10   4.24 0.6425
WVFGRD96   15.0   185    90   -10   4.26 0.6435
WVFGRD96   16.0    10    85    10   4.27 0.6450
WVFGRD96   17.0    10    85    10   4.29 0.6407
WVFGRD96   18.0    10    85    10   4.30 0.6341
WVFGRD96   19.0    10    85    10   4.31 0.6236
WVFGRD96   20.0   190    90   -10   4.32 0.6094
WVFGRD96   21.0   190    90   -10   4.33 0.5944
WVFGRD96   22.0    10    85    10   4.34 0.5784
WVFGRD96   23.0    10    80    10   4.34 0.5605
WVFGRD96   24.0     5    85   -10   4.34 0.5426
WVFGRD96   25.0     5    85   -10   4.34 0.5250
WVFGRD96   26.0     5    85   -10   4.34 0.5069
WVFGRD96   27.0     5    85   -10   4.34 0.4890
WVFGRD96   28.0     5    85   -10   4.34 0.4715
WVFGRD96   29.0   185    90    10   4.34 0.4529

The best solution is

WVFGRD96   16.0    10    85    10   4.27 0.6450

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

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. 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.

Velocity Model

The WUS.model used for the waveform synthetic seismograms and for the surface wave eigenfunctions and dispersion is as follows (The format is in the model96 format of Computer Programs in Seismology).

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    
Last Changed Fri Apr 26 02:02:41 AM CDT 2024