Source parameters for historical earthquakes worldwide are compiled to develop a series of empirical relationships among moment magnitude ( M ), surface rupture length, subsurface rupture length, downdip rupture width, rupture area, and maximum and average displacement per event. The resulting data base is a significant update of previous compilations and includes the additional source parameters of seismic moment, moment magnitude, subsurface rupture length, downdip rupture width, and average surface displacement. Each source parameter is classified as reliable or unreliable, based on our evaluation of the accuracy of individual values. Only the reliable source parameters are used in the final analyses. In comparing source parameters, we note the following trends: (1) Generally, the length of rupture at the surface is equal to 75% of the subsurface rupture length; however, the ratio of surface rupture length to subsurface rupture length increases with magnitude; (2) the average surface displacement per event is about one-half the maximum surface displacement per event; and (3) the average subsurface displacement on the fault plane is less than the maximum surface displacement but more than the average surface displacement. Thus, for most earthquakes in this data base, slip on the fault plane at seismogenic depths is manifested by similar displacements at the surface. Log-linear regressions between earthquake magnitude and surface rupture length, subsurface rupture length, and rupture area are especially well correlated, showing standard deviations of 0.25 to 0.35 magnitude units. Most relationships are not statistically different (at a 95% significance level) as a function of the style of faulting: thus, we consider the regressions for all slip types to be appropriate for most applications. Regressions between magnitude and displacement, magnitude and rupture width, and between displacement and rupture length are less well correlated and have larger standard deviation than regressions between magnitude and length or area. The large number of data points in most of these regressions and their statistical stability suggest that they are unlikely to change significantly in response to additional data. Separating the data according to extensional and compressional tectonic environments neither provides statistically different results nor improves the statistical significance of the regressions. Regressions for cases in which earthquake magnitude is either the independent or the dependent parameter can be used to estimate maximum earthquake magnitudes both for surface faults and for subsurface seismic sources such as blind faults, and to estimate the expected surface displacement along a fault for a given size earthquake.

New Empirical Relationships among Magnitude, Rupture Length, Rupture Width, Rupture Area, and Surface Displacement

This paper reviews rock friction and the frictional properties of earthquake faults. The basis for rate- and state-dependent friction laws is reviewed. The friction state variable is discussed, including its interpretation as a measure of average asperity contact time and porosity within granular fault gouge. Data are summarized showing that friction evolves even during truly stationary contact, and the connection between modern friction laws and the concept of “static” friction is discussed. Measurements of frictional healing, as evidenced by increasing static friction during quasistationary contact, are reviewed, as are their implications for fault healing. Shear localization in fault gouge is discussed, and the relationship between microstructures and friction is reviewed. These data indicate differences in the behavior of bare rock surfaces as compared to shear within granular fault gouge that can be attributed to dilation within fault gouge. Physical models for the characteristic friction distance are discussed and related to the problem of scaling this parameter to seismic faults. Earthquake afterslip, its relation to laboratory friction data, and the inverse correlation between afterslip and shallow coseismic slip are discussed in the context of a model for afterslip. Recent observations of the absence of afterslip are predicted by the model.

/pdf/laboratory-derived-friction-laws-and-their-application-to-44s35v6won.pdf

Laboratory-derived friction laws and their application to seismic faulting

The number of broadband three-component seismic stations in southern California has more than tripled recently. In this study we use the teleseismic receiver function technique to determine the crustal thicknesses and V_p/V_s ratios for these stations and map out the lateral variation of Moho depth under southern California. It is shown that a receiver function can provide a very good “point” measurement of crustal thickness under a broadband station and is not sensitive to crustal P velocity. However, the crustal thickness estimated only from the delay time of the Moho P-to-S converted phase trades off strongly with the crustal V_p/V_s ratio. The ambiguity can be reduced significantly by incorporating the later multiple converted phases, namely, the PpPs and PpSs+PsPs. We propose a stacking algorithm which sums the amplitudes of receiver function at the predicted arrival times of these phases by different crustal thicknesses H and Vp/Vs ratios. This transforms the time domain receiver functions directly into the H-V_p/V_s domain without need to identify these phases and to pick their arrival times. The best estimations of crustal thickness and V_p/V_s ratio are found when the three phases are stacked coherently. By stacking receiver functions from different distances and directions, effects of lateral structural variation are suppressed, and an average crustal model is obtained. Applying this technique to 84 digital broadband stations in southern California reveals that the Moho depth is 29 km on average and varies from 21 to 37 km. Deeper Mohos are found under the eastern Transverse Range, the Peninsular Range, and the Sierra Nevada Range. The central Transverse Range, however, does not have a crustal root. Thin crusts exist in the Inner California Borderland (21–22 km) and the Salton Trough (22 km). The Moho is relatively flat at the average depth in the western and central Mojave Desert and becomes shallower to the east under the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). Southern California crust has an average V_p/V_s ratio of 1.78, with higher ratios of 1.8 to 1.85 in the mountain ranges with Mesozoic basement and lower ratios in the Mojave Block except for the ECSZ, where the ratio increases.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/1999JB900322

Moho depth variation in southern California from teleseismic receiver functions

A compilation of compressional-wave ( V p) and shear-wave ( V s) velocities and densities for a wide variety of common lithologies is used to define new nonlinear, multivalued, and quantitative relations between these properties for the Earth's crust. Wireline borehole logs, vertical seismic profiles, laboratory measurements, and seismic tomography models provide a diverse dataset for deriving empirical relations between crustal V p and V s. The proposed V s as a function of V p relations fit V s and V p borehole logs in Quaternary alluvium and Salinian granites as well as laboratory measurements over a 7-km/sec-wide range in V p. The relations derived here are very close to those used to develop a regional 3D velocity model for southern California, based on pre-1970 data, and thus provide support for that model. These data, and these relations, show a rapid increase in V s as V p increases to 3.5 km/sec leading to higher shear-wave velocities in young sedimentary deposits than commonly assumed. These relations, appropriate for active continental margins where earthquakes are prone to occur, suggests that amplification of strong ground motions by shallow geologic deposits may not be as large as predicted by some earlier models.

Empirical relations between elastic wavespeeds and density in the Earth's crust

We present a model for estimating horizontal ground motion amplitudes caused by shallow crustal earthquakes occurring in active tectonic environments. The model provides predictive relationships for the orientation-independent average horizontal component of ground motions. Relationships are provided for peak acceleration, peak velocity, and 5-percent damped pseudo-spectral acceleration for spectral periods of 0.01 to 10 seconds. The model represents an update of the relationships developed by Sadigh et. al. (1997) and incorporates improved magnitude and distance scaling forms as well as hanging-wall effects. Site effects are represented by smooth functions of average shear wave velocity of the upper 30 m (VS30) and sediment depth. The new model predicts median ground motion that is similar to Sadigh et. al. (1997) at short spectral period, but lower ground motions at longer periods. The new model produces slightly lower ground motions in the distance range of 10 to 50 km and larger ground motion...

An NGA Model for the Average Horizontal Component of Peak Ground Motion and Response Spectra

We describe Version 2 of the three-dimensional (3D) seismic velocity model of southern California developed by the Southern California Earthquake Center and designed to serve as a reference model for multidisciplinary research activities in the area. The model consists of detailed, rule-based representations of the major southern California basins (Los Angeles basin, Ventura basin, San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Chino basin, San Bernardino Valley, and the Salton Trough), embedded in a 3D crust over a variable depth Moho. Outside of the basins, the model crust is based on regional tomographic results. The model Moho is represented by a surface with the depths determined by the receiver function technique. Shallow basin sediment velocities are constrained by geotechnical data. The model is implemented in a computer code that generates any specified 3D mesh of seismic velocity and density values. This parameterization is convenient to store, transfer, and update as new information and verification results become available.

/pdf/the-scec-southern-california-reference-three-dimensional-5ev8nntchh.pdf

The SCEC Southern California Reference Three-Dimensional Seismic Velocity Model Version 2

We determine upper mantle seismic velocity heterogeneities below Southern California from the inversion of teleseismic travel-time residuals. Teleseismic P-wave arrival times are obtained from three temporary passive experiments and Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) stations, producing good raypath coverage. The inversion is performed using a damped least-squares conjugate gradient method (LSQR). The inversion model element spacing is 20 km. Before the inversion, the effects of crustal velocity heterogeneities represented by the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) seismic velocity model version 2 are removed from the teleseismic travel times. The P-wave inversion produces a variance reduction of 43%. S-wave velocities are determined from laboratory Vp/Vs ratios. The most prominent features imaged in the results are high P-wave velocities (+3%) in the uppermost mantle beneath the northern Los Angeles basin, and the previously reported tabular high-velocity anomaly (+3%) to depths of 200 km beneath the Transverse Ranges, crosscutting the San Andreas fault. We incorporate the upper mantle seismic velocity heterogeneities into the SCEC Southern California reference seismic velocity model. The prior accounting for the crustal velocity heterogeneity demonstrates the utility of the top-down method of the SCEC seismic velocity model development.

/pdf/mantle-heterogeneities-and-the-scec-reference-three-4u5uhyz6kt.pdf

Mantle Heterogeneities and the SCEC Reference Three-Dimensional Seismic Velocity Model Version 3

The 24 November 1987 Superstition Hills earthquakes occurred on the conjugate northwest-striking right-lateral Superstition Hills fault and a previously unknown northeast-striking left-lateral structure defined by a lineation of hypocenters extending from the Superstition Hills fault to the Brawley seismic zone. Master event locations of the earthquakes using Caltech-USGS seismic network data reveal the following. The first main shock (33° 4.9′ N, 115° 47.7′, h = 10.6 km, M_S = 6.2, 0154 GMT), on the northeast striking structure and its foreshocks co-locate. Events on the northeast structure cluster in space and time, and some aftershocks occur in the Brawley seismic zone. The second main shock (33° 0.9′ N, 115° 50.9′ W, h = 1.9 km, M_S = 6.6, 1315 GMT), on the Superstition Hills fault, was 12 hr after the first main shock and initiated at shallow depth where the two trends join. Aftershocks of the second main shock lie in a northwest trend between the Superstition Hills and Superstition Mountain faults and have a sharply defined western edge. The extent of the northwest-trend aftershocks is not coincident with surface rupture on the Superstition Hills fault. In general, the earthquakes in the northeast trend are deep and the earthquakes in the northwest trend are shallow. We compare the earthquake distribution to the distribution of crystalline basement rocks defined from a refraction study of Fuis et al. (1982). The earthquake locations and extent of aftershock activity appear to be controlled by the presence of crystalline basement rocks.

/pdf/the-superstition-hills-california-earthquakes-of-24-november-4bcjkcowia.pdf

The Superstition Hills, California, earthquakes of 24 November 1987

Maximum earthquake magnitude ( m x ) is a critical parameter in seismic hazard and risk analysis. However, some recent large earthquakes have shown that most of the existing methods for estimating m x are inadequate. Moreover, m x itself is ill‐defined because its meaning largely depends on the context, and it usually cannot be inferred using existing data without associating it with a time interval. In this study, we use probable maximum earthquake magnitude within a time period of interest, m p( T ), to replace m x . The term m p( T ) contains not only the information of magnitude limit but also the occurrence rate of the extreme events. We estimate m p( T ) for circum‐Pacific subduction zones using tapered Gutenberg–Richter (TGR) distributions. The estimation of the two TGR parameters, β ‐value and corner magnitude ( m c), is performed using the maximum‐likelihood method with the constraint from tectonic moment rate. To populate the TGR, the rates of smaller earthquakes are needed. We apply the Whole Earth model, a high‐resolution global estimate of the rate of m ≥5 earthquakes, to estimate these rates. The uncertainties of m p( T ) are calculated using Monte‐Carlo simulation. Our results show that most of the circum‐Pacific subduction zones can generate m ≥8.5 earthquakes over a 250‐year interval, m ≥8.8 earthquakes over a 500‐year interval, and m ≥9.0 earthquakes over a 10,000‐year interval. For the Cascadia subduction zone, we include the 10,000‐year paleoseismic record based on turbidite studies to supplement the limited instrumental earthquake data. Our results show that over a 500‐year period, m ≥8.8 earthquakes are expected in this zone; over a 1000‐year period, m ≥9.0 earthquakes are expected; and over a 10,000‐year period, m ≥9.3 earthquakes are expected.

/pdf/magnitude-limits-of-subduction-zone-earthquakes-33u5waqx10.pdf

Magnitude Limits of Subduction Zone Earthquakes

Surficial slip along the entire mapped length of the Superstition Hills fault in southern California occurred in association with the Superstition Hills earthquake (M_s 66)of 24 November 1987 We made repeated measurements of surface slip at 36 sites along the fault and occupied 64 sites at least once At our sites, dextral slip was as high as 485 cm 1 day after the earthquake and 71 cm 2 months after The measurements show that slip during the period from hr to several hundred hr following the event is described by a simple power law of time Extrapolation to t = 1 min indicates that co-seismic slippage ranged from 5
to 23 cm at 10 of our best recorded sites, suggesting that finite co-seismic slippage occurred along the length of the fault These extrapolations are supported by a measurement made at Imler Road 30 min after the shock
Measurements are complete through October 1988 At many sites, the form of slip-rate was decay changed from power law to a function of log time during the interval between 300 and 500 hr after the earthquake Logarithmic slip-rate decay in time was observed for a period of several yr after the Parkfield, Borrego Mountain, and Imperial Valley earthquakes Those measurements may have begun too late to resolve power-law behavior at early times If current logarithmic behavior of the Superstition Hills fault persists, right-lateral slippage will approach 90 cm 10 yr after the rupture
Changes in the along-fault displacement profile correlate well with geometric features including a fault bend and a major fault step Moreover, slip behavior appears to be correlated to the thickness of sedimentary cover along the fault Also, the northern half of the fault is bounded by a large block of continental crystalline basement The presence of this block may have contributed to the
relatively uniform early slip behavior observed there

/pdf/slip-along-the-superstition-hills-fault-associated-with-the-4oi80c9exf.pdf

Harold Magistrale

Papers

The SCEC Southern California Reference Three-Dimensional Seismic Velocity Model Version 2

Mantle Heterogeneities and the SCEC Reference Three-Dimensional Seismic Velocity Model Version 3

The Superstition Hills, California, earthquakes of 24 November 1987

Magnitude Limits of Subduction Zone Earthquakes

Slip along the Superstition Hills fault associated with the 24 November 1987 Superstition Hills, California, earthquake