Location

Location ANSS

The ANSS event ID is tx2021iflj and the event page is at https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/tx2021iflj/executive.

2021/04/27 19:42:11 31.663 -104.370 7.4 4 Texas

Focal Mechanism

 USGS/SLU Moment Tensor Solution
 ENS  2021/04/27 19:42:11:0  31.66 -104.37   7.4 4.0 Texas
 
 Stations used:
   EP.KIDD GM.NMP02 GM.NMP25 GM.NMP41 GM.NMP44 GM.NMP53 
   IM.TX31 SC.Y22A TX.ALPN TX.APMT TX.MB05 TX.ODSA TX.PB01 
   TX.PB05 TX.PB07 TX.PB11 TX.PB28 TX.PECS TX.POST TX.SGCY 
   TX.VHRN US.MNTX 
 
 Filtering commands used:
   cut o DIST/3.3 -40 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 = 3.51e+21 dyne-cm
  Mw = 3.63 
  Z  = 7 km
  Plane   Strike  Dip  Rake
   NP1       96    46   -100
   NP2      290    45   -80
  Principal Axes:
   Axis    Value   Plunge  Azimuth
    T   3.51e+21      0     193
    N   0.00e+00      7     103
    P  -3.51e+21     83     286

 Moment Tensor: (dyne-cm)
    Component   Value
       Mxx     3.33e+21
       Mxy     7.80e+20
       Mxz    -1.47e+20
       Myy     1.27e+20
       Myz     4.05e+20
       Mzz    -3.45e+21
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                     ##############                  
                 ######################              
              ############################           
             ##############################          
           ########-------###################        
          ###--------------------#############       
         #---------------------------##########      
        -------------------------------#########     
        ---------------------------------#######     
       -----------------   ----------------######    
       #---------------- P ------------------####    
       ##---------------   -------------------###    
       ###------------------------------------##-    
        ####------------------------------------     
        ######-------------------------------##-     
         #########------------------------#####      
          #############--------------#########       
           ##################################        
             ##############################          
              ############################           
                 #####   ##############              
                     # T ##########                  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
 Global CMT Convention Moment Tensor:
      R          T          P
 -3.45e+21  -1.47e+20  -4.05e+20 
 -1.47e+20   3.33e+21  -7.80e+20 
 -4.05e+20  -7.80e+20   1.27e+20 


Details of the solution is found at

http://www.eas.slu.edu/eqc/eqc_mt/MECH.NA/20210427194211/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 = 290
      DIP = 45
     RAKE = -80
       MW = 3.63
       HS = 7.0

The NDK file is 20210427194211.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 -40 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   255    80     5   3.22 0.2109
WVFGRD96    2.0   150    70   -45   3.38 0.2381
WVFGRD96    3.0   155    80    70   3.53 0.3474
WVFGRD96    4.0   155    75    70   3.54 0.4116
WVFGRD96    5.0   155    70    70   3.55 0.4393
WVFGRD96    6.0   290    45   -80   3.61 0.4732
WVFGRD96    7.0   290    45   -80   3.63 0.4885
WVFGRD96    8.0   290    45   -85   3.69 0.4883
WVFGRD96    9.0   290    40   -80   3.70 0.4814
WVFGRD96   10.0   290    40   -80   3.70 0.4622
WVFGRD96   11.0   290    40   -80   3.70 0.4356
WVFGRD96   12.0   290    40   -80   3.70 0.4061
WVFGRD96   13.0   135    70   -50   3.64 0.3799
WVFGRD96   14.0   140    75   -45   3.66 0.3697
WVFGRD96   15.0   145    80   -40   3.67 0.3584
WVFGRD96   16.0   145    80   -40   3.69 0.3457
WVFGRD96   17.0   145    85   -40   3.70 0.3328
WVFGRD96   18.0   145    85   -40   3.71 0.3205
WVFGRD96   19.0   140    85   -45   3.71 0.3084
WVFGRD96   20.0   140    85   -45   3.72 0.2969
WVFGRD96   21.0   140    85   -45   3.74 0.2865
WVFGRD96   22.0   140    85   -45   3.74 0.2761
WVFGRD96   23.0   140    85   -45   3.75 0.2668
WVFGRD96   24.0   140    85   -45   3.76 0.2579
WVFGRD96   25.0   135    60   -45   3.77 0.2485
WVFGRD96   26.0   135    60   -45   3.78 0.2411
WVFGRD96   27.0   135    60   -45   3.78 0.2341
WVFGRD96   28.0   140    65   -40   3.79 0.2278
WVFGRD96   29.0   140    65   -40   3.79 0.2223

The best solution is

WVFGRD96    7.0   290    45   -80   3.63 0.4885

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 -40 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 Wed Apr 24 10:24:41 PM CDT 2024