Search for: All records

Precisely constraining the source parameters of large earthquakes is one of the primary objectives of seismology. However, the quality of the results relies on the quality of synthetic earth response. Although earth structure is laterally heterogeneous, particularly at shallow depth, most earthquake source studies at the global scale rely on the Green's functions calculated with radially symmetric (1-D) earth structure. To avoid the impact of inaccurate Green's functions, these conventional source studies use a limited set of seismic phases, such as long-period seismic waves, broad-band P and S waves in teleseismic distances (30° < ∆ < 90°), and strong ground motion records at close-fault stations. The enriched information embedded in the broad-band seismograms recorded by global and regional networks is largely ignored, limiting the spatiotemporal resolution. Here we calculate 3-D strain Green's functions at 30 GSN stations for source regions of 9 selected global earthquakes and one earthquake-prone area (California), with frequency up to 67 mHz (15 s), using SPECFEM3D_GLOBE and the reciprocity theorem. The 3-D SEM mesh model is composed of mantle model S40RTS, crustal model CRUST2.0 and surface topography ETOPO2. We surround each target event with grids in horizontal spacing of 5 km and vertical spacing of 2.0–3.0 km, allowing usmore »to investigate not only the main shock but also the background seismicity. In total, the response at over 210 000 source points is calculated in simulation. The number of earthquakes, including different focal mechanisms, centroid depth range and tectonic background, could further increase without additional computational cost if they were properly selected to avoid overloading individual CPUs. The storage requirement can be reduced by two orders of magnitude if the output strain Green's functions are stored for periods over 15 s. We quantitatively evaluate the quality of these 3-D synthetic seismograms, which are frequency and phase dependent, for each source region using nearby aftershocks, before using them to constrain the focal mechanisms and slip distribution. Case studies show that using a 3-D earth model significantly improves the waveform similarity, agreement in amplitude and arrival time of seismic phases with the observations. The limitations of current 3-D models are still notable, dependent on seismic phases and frequency range. The 3-D synthetic seismograms cannot well match the high frequency (>40 mHz) S wave and (>20 mHz) Rayleigh wave yet. Though the mean time-shifts are close to zero, the standard deviations are notable. Careful calibration using the records of nearby better located earthquakes is still recommended to take full advantage of better waveform similarity due to the use of 3-D models. Our results indicate that it is now feasible to systematically study global large earthquakes using full 3-D earth response in a global scale.

We image the rupture process of the 2021 Mw 7.4 Maduo, Tibet earthquake using slowness‐enhanced back‐projection (BP) and joint finite fault inversion, which combines teleseismic broadband body waves, long‐period (166–333 s) seismic waves, and 3D ground displacements from radar satellites. The results reveal a left‐lateral strike‐slip rupture, propagating bilaterally on a 160 km long north‐dipping sub‐vertical fault system that bifurcates near its east end. About 80% of the total seismic moment occurs on the asperities shallower than 10 km, with a peak slip of 5.7 m. To simultaneously match the observed long‐period seismic waves and static displacements, potential deep slip is required, despite a tradeoff with the rigidity of the shallow crust. The deep slip existence, local crustal rigidity, and synthetic long‐period Earth response for Tibet earthquakes thus deserve further investigation. The WNW branch ruptures ∼75 km at ∼2.7 km/s, while the ESE branch ruptures ∼85 km at ∼3 km/s, though super‐shear rupture propagation possibly occurs during the ESE propagation from 12 to 20 s. Synthetic BP tests confirm overall sub‐shear rupture speeds and reveal a previously undocumented limitation caused by the signal interference between two bilateral branches. The stress analysis on the forks of the fault demonstrates that the pre‐compression inclination, rupture speed, and branching anglemore »could explain the branching behavior on the eastern fork.