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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
USGS2002

Separation of site effects and structural focusing in Santa Monica, California: A study of high-frequency weak motions from earthquakes and blasts recorded during the Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment

Near-surface site factors and the effects of deep structural focusing were estimated in the Santa Monica Mountains and Santa Monica, California, from a portable array of 75 seismic stations deployed during the Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment, Phase II (LARSE II). The objective was to examine further the origin of seismic wave amplification in the region of intense damage south of the Santa Monica Fault from the Northridge earthquake. The analysis used normalized spectral amplitudes in the 4- to 8- and 8- to 12-Hz range in direct and coda waves from local earthquakes in Santa Paula, Northridge, Redlands, and Hector Mine. Coda waves indicated that site factor amplifications are larger south of the Santa Monica fault relative to the north. Spectral ratios of direct S waves, corrected for site effects, show additional amplificaton south of, and adjacent to, the Santa Monica fault, attributable to focusing by a deeper structure. Gao et al. (1996) concluded that localized focusing effects contributed to anomalous P- and S-wave amplification in the Santa Monica damage zone for Northridge aftershocks within a specified range of azimuths. In an attempt to reproduce the hypothesized focusing from the Northridge earthquake, two shots (4000 and 3750 lb.) were detonated, one at Pyramid Lake, a distance of about 69 km to the north-northwest of central Santa Monica, and the other near Fort Tejon, a distance of 91 km. The azimuth of the shots was chosen to be that expected to give anomalous amplification. At these distance steeply incident seismic energy from Pg/PmP waves are expected to pass through the underground focusing structure and be selectively amplified. After the local site factors are removed, the waveforms from the Fort Tejon shot exhibited localized amplification adjacent to and south of the fault, 2-3 times larger than that of the surrounding area. The effect is less for waves from the Pyramid Lake shot, which could be due to their higher angle of incidence. The observations lend support to the argument that deep structural focusing is an important factor in determining azimuth-dependent amplification of seismic waves along a basin edge.

California↗
USGS2002

Origins of high-frequency scattered waves near PKKP from large aperture seismic array data

This article identifies the likely origin of 1-Hz scattered waves in the vicinity of PKKP by comparing measurements of slowness and onset time to ray-theoretical predictions. The measurements are obtained from slant stacks of Large Aperture Seismic Array (LASA) data from 36 earthquakes and six explosions in the range 30??-116??. Three types of scattered waves explain the main features seen in the stacks, including: P scattered to PKP near the Earth's surface (P.PKP), PKKP scattered near its core-mantle-boundary (CMB) reflection point (PK.KP), and SKKP scattered near its CMB reflection point (SK.KP). The LASA stacks image the amplitude and slowness variations of the scattered waves with time. They also show where these waves can be detected and where they are free from contaminating arrivals. SK.KP waves rise above the noise approximately 100 sec before the onset time of the main SKKP arrival near 113??. Observations of PK.KP span 30??-100??. However, at distances greater than 50?? they suffer from P.PKP contamination. At distances less than 40?? the PK.KP last for about 280 sec. This is approximately 130 sec longer than the maximum ray-theoretical prediction for waves scattered at the CMB, indicating a possible combination of near-surface scattering and contributions from the overlying mantle.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

Empirical evidence for acceleration-dependent amplification factors

Site-specific amplification factors, Fa and Fv, used in current U.S. building codes decrease with increasing base acceleration level as implied by the Loma Prieta earthquake at 0.1g and extrapolated using numerical models and laboratory results. The Northridge earthquake recordings of 17 January 1994 and subsequent geotechnical data permit empirical estimates of amplification at base acceleration levels up to 0.5g. Distance measures and normalization procedures used to infer amplification ratios from soil-rock pairs in predetermined azimuth-distance bins significantly influence the dependence of amplification estimates on base acceleration. Factors inferred using a hypocentral distance norm do not show a statistically significant dependence on base acceleration. Factors inferred using norms implied by the attenuation functions of Abrahamson and Silva show a statistically significant decrease with increasing base acceleration. The decrease is statistically more significant for stiff clay and sandy soil (site class D) sites than for stiffer sites underlain by gravely soils and soft rock (site class C). The decrease in amplification with increasing base acceleration is more pronounced for the short-period amplification factor, Fa, than for the midperiod factor, Fv.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

Anomalous concentrations of seismically triggered rock falls in Pacoima Canyon: Are they caused by highly susceptible slopes or local amplification of seismic shaking?

Anomalously high concentrations of rock falls were triggered in Pacoima Canyon (Los Angeles, California) during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Similar concentrations were also documented from the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Using an engineering rock-mass classification that evaluates the susceptibility of rock slopes to seismic failure based on the fracture properties of a rock mass (in terms of a numerical "Q-value" that describes rock quality), the rock slopes in Pacoima Canyon were compared with rock slopes in sorrounding areas where topography and lithology are similar, but rock-fall concentrations from the earthquakes were much lower. A statistical comparison of Q-values from five sites surrounding Pacoima Canyon indicates that seismic susceptibilities are similar to those within Pacoima Canyon; differences in the characteristics of rock slopes between these sites are not sufficient to account for the relatively high concentrations of rock falls within Pacoima Canyon as compared to low concentrations elsewhere. By eliminating susceptibility differences as a cause, the most likely explanations for the differences in rock-fall concentrations is anomalously high shaking levels in Pacoima Canyon, possibly resulting from topographic amplification within the canyon.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2003

Wave propagation and site response in the Santa Clara Valley

Forty-two portable digital instruments were deployed across the Santa Clara Valley from June until early November 1998; this array recorded 14 small and moderate local events and 7 large teleseismic events. We analyze the ground motion from these events to determine station delays and relative site amplification within the Valley. P waves from an event at the southern edge of the valley are early (Δ t > -0.35 sec) at stations over an axial ridge in the basement interface in the middle of the valley, but late (Δ t < 0.20 sec) for stations over the Cupertino and Evergreen basins to either side. The S -wave delays are approximately twice as large. Teleseismic P -waves from an M = 7.0 event beneath the Bonin Islands show a similar pattern in travel-time delays. The P waves are amplified by factors of 1.5-3 for frequencies below 2 Hz at stations within either basin, compared with stations on the axial ridge. The P -wave coda appear enhanced at 2-3 sec, but coda Q estimates at frequencies from 0.2 to 1.1 Hz are not markedly different at stations over the basin compared with stations on the ridge with the possible exceptions of consistently high values over the northern end of the Evergreen Basin. We invert the S -wave spectra for site-specific attenuation and amplification from the 14 local events by assuming a common source spectra for each event, 1/ r geometrical spreading, and constraining the inversion using the 30-m velocity profile at four stations in the array. The largest amplifications occurred in the 1- to 6-Hz band at stations near the northwest edge of the Evergreen basin. While the highest amplifications occur at stations with the lowest S -wave velocities, the scatter obscures the correlation between velocity and amplification. The stations in the basins are characterized by higher attenuation than the stations on the basement ridge.

California↗
USGS2002

Delineation of faulting and basin geometry along a seismic reflection transect in urbanized San Bernardino Valley, California

Fourteen kilometers of continuous, shallow seismic reflection data acquired through the urbanized San Bernardino Valley, California, have revealed numerous faults between the San Jacinto and San Andreas faults as well as a complex pattern of downdropped and uplifted blocks. These data also indicate that the Loma Linda fault continues northeastward at least 4.5 km beyond its last mapped location on the southern edge of the valley and to within at least 2 km of downtown San Bernardino. Previously undetected faults within the valley northeast of the San Jacinto fault are also imaged, including the inferred western extension of the Banning fault and several unnamed faults. The Rialto-Colton fault is interpreted southwest of the San Jacinto fault. The seismic data image the top of the crystalline basement complex across 70% of the profile length and show that the basement has an overall dip of roughly 10?? southwest between Perris Hill and the San Jacinto fault. Gravity and aeromagnetic data corroborate the interpreted location of the San Jacinto fault and better constrain the basin depth along the seismic profile to be as deep as 1.7 km. These data also corroborate other fault locations and the general dip of the basement surface. At least 1.2 km of apparent vertical displacement on the basement is observed across the San Jacinto fault at the profile location. The basin geometry delineated by these data was used to generate modeled ground motions that show peak horizontal amplifications of 2-3.5 above bedrock response in the 0.05- to 1.0-Hz frequency band, which is consistent with recorded earthquake data in the valley.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

The earthquake potential of the New Madrid seismic zone

The fault system responsible for New Madrid seismicity has generated temporally clustered very large earthquakes in A.D. 900 ± 100 years and A.D. 1450 ± 150 years as well as in 1811–1812. Given the uncertainties in dating liquefaction features, the time between the past three New Madrid events may be as short as 200 years and as long as 800 years, with an average of 500 years. This advance in understanding the Late Holocene history of the New Madrid seismic zone and thus, the contemporary tectonic behavior of the associated fault system was made through studies of hundreds of earthquake-induced liquefaction features at more than 250 sites across the New Madrid region. We have found evidence that prehistoric sand blows, like those that formed during the 1811–1812 earthquakes, are probably compound structures resulting from multiple earthquakes closely clustered in time or earthquake sequences. From the spatial distribution and size of sand blows and their sedimentary units, we infer the source zones and estimate the magnitudes of earthquakes within each sequence and thereby characterize the detailed behavior of the fault system. It appears that fault rupture was complex and that the central branch of the seismic zone produced very large earthquakes during the A.D. 900 and A.D. 1450 events as well as in 1811–1812. On the basis of a minimum recurrence rate of 200 years, we are now entering the period during which the next 1811–1812-type event could occur.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee↗
USGS2002

Subsurface geometry and evolution of the Seattle fault zone and the Seattle Basin, Washington

The Seattle fault, a large, seismically active, east-west-striking fault zone under Seattle, is the best-studied fault within the tectonically active Puget Lowland in western Washington, yet its subsurface geometry and evolution are not well constrained. We combine several analysis and modeling approaches to study the fault geometry and evolution, including depth-converted, deep-seismic-reflection images, P-wave-velocity field, gravity data, elastic modeling of shoreline uplift from a late Holocene earthquake, and kinematic fault restoration. We propose that the Seattle thrust or reverse fault is accompanied by a shallow, antithetic reverse fault that emerges south of the main fault. The wedge enclosed by the two faults is subject to an enhanced uplift, as indicated by the boxcar shape of the shoreline uplift from the last major earthquake on the fault zone. The Seattle Basin is interpreted as a flexural basin at the footwall of the Seattle fault zone. Basin stratigraphy and the regional tectonic history lead us to suggest that the Seattle fault zone initiated as a reverse fault during the middle Miocene, concurrently with changes in the regional stress field, to absorb some of the north-south shortening of the Cascadia forearc. Kingston Arch, 30 km north of the Seattle fault zone, is interpreted as a more recent disruption arising within the basin, probably due to the development of a blind reverse fault.

Washington↗
USGS2003

Late Holocene liquefaction features in the Dominican Republic: A powerful tool for earthquake hazard assessment in the northeastern Caribbean

Several generations of sand blows and sand dikes, indicative of significant and recurrent liquefaction, are preserved in the late Holocene alluvial deposits of the Cibao Valley in northern Dominican Republic. The Cibao Valley is structurally controlled by the Septentrional fault, an onshore section of the North American-Caribbean strike-slip plate boundary. The Septentrional fault was previously studied in the central part of the valley, where it sinistrally offsets Holocene terrace risers and soil horizons. In the eastern and western parts of the valley, the Septentrional fault is buried by Holocene alluvial deposits, making direct study of the structure difficult. Liquefaction features that formed in these Holocene deposits as a result of strong ground shaking provide a record of earthquakes in these areas. Liquefaction features in the eastern Cibao Valley indicate that at least one historic earthquake, probably the moment magnitude, M 8, 4 August 1946 event, and two to four prehistoric earthquakes of M 7 to 8 struck this area during the past 1100 yr. The prehistoric earthquakes appear to cluster in time and could have resulted from rupture of the central and eastern sections of the Septentrional fault circa A.D. 1200. Liquefaction features in the western Cibao Valley indicate that one historic earthquake, probably the M 8, 7 May 1842 event, and two prehistoric earthquakes of M 7-8 struck this area during the past 1600 yr. Our findings suggest that rupture of the Septentrional fault circa A.D. 1200 may have extended beyond the central Cibao Valley and generated an earthquake of M 8. Additional information regarding the age and size distribution of liquefaction features is needed to reconstruct the prehistoric earthquake history of Hispaniola and to define the long-term behavior and earthquake potential of faults associated with the North American-Caribbean plate boundary.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

Nonlinear and linear site response and basin effects in Seattle for the M 6.8 Nisqually, Washington, earthquake

We used recordings of the M 6.8 Nisqually earthquake and its ML 3.4 aftershock to study site response and basin effects for 35 locations in Seattle, Washington. We determined site amplification from Fourier spectral ratios of the recorded horizontal ground motions, referenced to a soft-rock site. Soft-soil sites (generally National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program [NEHRP] class E) on artificial fill and young alluvium have the largest 1-Hz amplifications (factors of 3-7) for both the mainshock and aftershock. These amplifications are correlated with areas of higher damage from the mainshock to major buildings and liquefaction. There are several indications of nonlinear response at the soft-soil sites for the mainshock ground motions, despite relatively modest peak accelerations in the S waves of 15%-22%g. First, the mainshock spectral ratios do not show amplification at 2-8 Hz as do the aftershock spectral ratios. Spectral peaks at frequencies below 2 Hz generally occur at lower frequencies for the mainshock spectral ratios than for the aftershock ratios. At one soft-soil site, there is a clear shift of the resonant frequency to a lower frequency for the mainshock compared with the aftershock. The frequency of this resonance increases in the coda of the mainshock record, indicating that the site response during the weaker motions of the coda is more linear than that of the initial S wave. Three of the soft-soil sites display cusped, one-sided mainshock accelerograms after the S wave. These soft-soil sites also show amplification at 10-20 Hz in the S wave, relative to the rock site, that is not observed for the aftershock. The cusped waveforms and 10-20-Hz amplification are symptomatic of nonlinear response at the soft-soil sites. These sites had nearby liquefaction. The largest amplifications for 0.5 Hz occur at soft-soil sites on the southern portion of the Seattle Basin. Stiff-soil sites (NEHRP classes D and C) on Pleistocene-age glacial deposits display similar spectral amplification for the mainshock and aftershock, indicating approximately linear response. The stiff-soil sites generally have moderate amplification (factors of 1.1-2.4) at 0.5 and 1 Hz. Amplifications at 1 and 5 Hz for all sites generally increase with decreasing shear-wave velocity measured in the top 30 m (Vs 30). However, larger amplifications at 0.5 and 1 Hz for sites with similar Vs 30 values are observed for sites in the Seattle Basin, illustrating the amplification from the deeper (>30 m) sediments and the contribution from basin surface waves. Record sections for the mainshock and aftershock show that basin surface waves produce the peak velocities for many of the sites in the Seattle Basin and often dominate the amplitude at 1 Hz and lower frequencies.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

The 26 January 2001 M 7.6 Bhuj, India, earthquake: Observed and predicted ground motions

Although local and regional instrumental recordings of the devastating 26, January 2001, Bhuj earthquake are sparse, the distribution of macroseismic effects can provide important constraints on the mainshock ground motions. We compiled available news accounts describing damage and other effects and interpreted them to obtain modified Mercalli intensities (MMIs) at >200 locations throughout the Indian subcontinent. These values are then used to map the intensity distribution throughout the subcontinent using a simple mathematical interpolation method. Although preliminary, the maps reveal several interesting features. Within the Kachchh region, the most heavily damaged villages are concentrated toward the western edge of the inferred fault, consistent with western directivity. Significant sediment-induced amplification is also suggested at a number of locations around the Gulf of Kachchh to the south of the epicenter. Away from the Kachchh region, intensities were clearly amplified significantly in areas that are along rivers, within deltas, or on coastal alluvium, such as mudflats and salt pans. In addition, we use fault-rupture parameters inferred from teleseismic data to predict shaking intensity at distances of 0-1000 km. We then convert the predicted hard-rock ground-motion parameters to MMI by using a relationship (derived from Internet-based intensity surveys) that assigns MMI based on the average effects in a region. The predicted MMIs are typically lower by 1-3 units than those estimated from news accounts, although they do predict near-field ground motions of approximately 80%g and potentially damaging ground motions on hard-rock sites to distances of approximately 300 km. For the most part, this discrepancy is consistent with the expected effect of sediment response, but it could also reflect other factors, such as unusually high building vulnerability in the Bhuj region and a tendency for media accounts to focus on the most dramatic damage, rather than the average effects. The discrepancy may also be partly attributable to the inadequacy of the empirical relationship between MMI and peak ground acceleration (PGA), when applied to India. The MMI-PGA relationship was developed using data from California earthquakes, which might have a systematically different stress drop and therefore, a different frequency content than intraplate events. When a relationship between response spectra and MMI is used, we obtain larger predicted MMI values, in better agreement with the observations.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

High-resolution seismic velocities and shallow structure of the San Andreas fault zone at Middle Mountain, Parkfield, California

A 5-km-long, high-resolution seismic imaging survey across the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone and the proposed San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) drill site near Parkfield, California, shows that velocities vary both laterally and vertically. Velocities range from <1.0 km/sec near the surface to as much as 4.8 km/sec at 750-m depth. The lowest velocities (<1.0 to ???3.0 km/sec) correspond to unconsolidated sediment, mudstone, and sandstone in the near surface, and the higher velocities (>4.0 km/sec) probably correspond to granitic rock of the Salinian block, which is exposed a few kilometers southwest of the SAF. The depth to the top of probable granitic rock varies laterally along the seismic profile but is about 600 m below the surface at the proposed SAFOD site. We observe a prominent, lateral low-velocity zone (LVZ) beneath and southwest of the surface trace of the SAF. The LVZ is about 1.5 km wide at 300-m depth but tapers to about 600 m wide at 750-m depth. At the maximum depth of the velocity model (750 m), the LVZ is centered approximately 400 m southwest of the surface trace of the SAF. Similar velocities and velocity gradients are observed at comparable depths on both sides of the LVZ, suggesting that the LVZ is anomalous relative to rocks on either side of it. Velocities within the LVZ are lower than those of San Andreas fault gouge, and the LVZ is also anomalous with respect to gravity, magnetic, and resistivity measurements. Because of its proximity to the surface trace of the SAF, it is tempting to suggest that the LVZ represents a zone of fractured crystalline rocks at depth. However, the LVZ instead probably represents a tectonic sliver of sedimentary rock that now rests adjacent to or encompasses the SAF. Such a sliver of sedimentary rock implies fault strands on both sides and possibly within the sliver, suggesting a zone of fault strands at least 1.5 km wide at a depth of 300 m, tapering to about 600 m wide at 750-m depth. Fluids within the sedimentary sliver are probably responsible for observed low-resistivity values.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2002

Instrumental intensity distribution for the Hector Mine, California, and the Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquakes: Comparison of two methods

We compare two methods of seismic-intensity estimation from ground-motion records for the two recent strong earthquakes: the 1999 (M 7.1) Hector Mine, California, and the 1999 (M 7.6) Chi-Chi, Taiwan. The first technique utilizes the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and velocity (PGV), and it is used for rapid generation of the instrumental intensity map in California. The other method is based on the revised relationships between intensity and Fourier amplitude spectrum (FAS). The results of using the methods are compared with independently observed data and between the estimations from the records. For the case of the Hector Mine earthquake, the calculated intensities in general agree with the observed values. For the case of the Chi-Chi earthquake, the areas of maximum calculated intensity correspond to the areas of the greatest damage and highest number of fatalities. However, the FAS method producees higher-intensity values than those of the peak amplitude method. The specific features of ground-motion excitation during the large, shallow, thrust earthquake may be considered a reason for the discrepancy. The use of PGA and PGV is simple; however, the use of FAS provides a natural consideration of site amplification by means of generalized or site-specific spectral ratios. Because the calculation of seismic-intensity maps requires rapid processing of data from a large network, it is very practical to generate a "first-order" map from the recorded peak motions. Then, a "second-order" map may be compiled using an amplitude-spectra method on the basis of available records and numerical modeling of the site-dependent spectra for the regions of sparse station spacing.

California↗
USGS2002

A Brownian model for recurrent earthquakes

We construct a probability model for rupture times on a recurrent earthquake source. Adding Brownian perturbations to steady tectonic loading produces a stochastic load-state process. Rupture is assumed to occur when this process reaches a critical-failure threshold. An earthquake relaxes the load state to a characteristic ground level and begins a new failure cycle. The load-state process is a Brownian relaxation oscillator. Intervals between events have a Brownian passage-time distribution that may serve as a temporal model for time-dependent, long-term seismic forecasting. This distribution has the following noteworthy properties: (1) the probability of immediate rerupture is zero; (2) the hazard rate increases steadily from zero at t = 0 to a finite maximum near the mean recurrence time and then decreases asymptotically to a quasi-stationary level, in which the conditional probability of an event becomes time independent; and (3) the quasi-stationary failure rate is greater than, equal to, or less than the mean failure rate because the coefficient of variation is less than, equal to, or greater than 1/???2 ??? 0.707. In addition, the model provides expressions for the hazard rate and probability of rupture on faults for which only a bound can be placed on the time of the last rupture. The Brownian relaxation oscillator provides a connection between observable event times and a formal state variable that reflects the macromechanics of stress and strain accumulation. Analysis of this process reveals that the quasi-stationary distance to failure has a gamma distribution, and residual life has a related exponential distribution. It also enables calculation of "interaction" effects due to external perturbations to the state, such as stress-transfer effects from earthquakes outside the target source. The influence of interaction effects on recurrence times is transient and strongly dependent on when in the loading cycle step pertubations occur. Transient effects may be much stronger than would be predicted by the "clock change" method and characteristically decay inversely with elapsed time after the perturbation.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS2003

Paleoseismic evidence of characteristic slip on the Western segment of the North Anatolian fault, Turkey

We have conducted a paleoseismic investigation of serial fault rupture at one site along the 110-km rupture of the North Anatolian fault that produced the M w 7.4 earthquake of 17 August 1999. The benefit of using a recent rupture to compare serial ruptures lies in the fact that the location, magnitude, and slip vector of the most recent event are all very well documented. We wished to determine whether or not the previous few ruptures of the fault were similar to the recent one. We chose a site at a step-over between two major strike-slip traces, where the principal fault is a normal fault. Our two excavations across the 1999 rupture reveal fluvial sands and gravels with two colluvial wedges related to previous earthquakes. Each wedge is about 0.8 m thick. Considering the processes of collapse and subsequent diffusion that are responsible for the formation of a colluvial wedge, we suggest that the two paleoscarps were similar in height to the 1999 scarp. This similarity supports the concept of characteristic slip, at least for this location along the fault. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates of 16 charcoal samples are consistent with the interpretation that these two paleoscarps formed during large historical events in 1509 and 1719. If this is correct, the most recent three ruptures at the site have occurred at 210- and 280-year intervals.

North Anatolian fault↗
USGS2002

The December 1872 Washington state earthquake

The largest historical earthquake in eastern Washington occurred on 15 December 1872. We used Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) assignments for 12 twentieth-century earthquakes to determine attenuation relations for different regions in the Pacific Northwest. MMI attenuation for propagation paths east and west of the Cascade Mountains differs significantly only for epicentral distances greater than about 225 km. We used these attenuation relations and the MMI assignments for the 15 December 1872 earthquake to conclude that its epicentral region was east of the Cascade Mountains near Lake Chelan, Washington, and most probably near the south end of Lake Chelan. The intensity magnitude, M I , is 6.8 and moment magnitude, M , is 6.5-7.0 at the 95% confidence level .

Washington↗
USGS2003

Signatures of the seismic source in EMD-based characterization of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake recordings

In this article we use empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to characterize the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake records and investigate the signatures carried over from the source rupture process. Comparison of the current study results with existing source inverse solutions that use traditional data processing suggests that the EMD-based characterization contains information that sheds light on aspects of the earthquake rupture process. We first summarize the fundamentals of the EMD and illustrate its features through the analysis of a hypothetical and a real record. Typically, the Northridge strong-motion records are decomposed into eight or nine intrinsic mode functions (IMF's), each of which emphasizes a different oscillation mode with different amplitude and frequency content. The first IMF has the highest-frequency content; frequency content decreases with an increase in IMF component. With the aid of a finite-fault inversion method, we then examine aspects of the source of the 1994 Northridge earthquake that are reflected in the second to fifth IMF components. This study shows that the second IMF is predominantly wave motion generated near the hypocenter, with high-frequency content that might be related to a large stress drop associated with the initiation of the earthquake. As one progresses from the second to the fifth IMF component, there is a general migration of the source region away from the hypocenter with associated longer-period signals as the rupture propagates. This study suggests that the different IMF components carry information on the earthquake rupture process that is expressed in their different frequency bands.

California↗
USGS2002

Puente Hills blind-thrust system, Los Angeles, California

We describe the three-dimensional geometry and Quaternary slip history of the Puente Hills blind-thrust system (PHT) using seismic reflection profiles, petroleum well data, and precisely located seismicity. The PHT generated the 1987 Whittier Narrows (moment magnitude [ M w ] 6.0) earthquake and extends for more than 40 km along strike beneath the northern Los Angeles basin. The PHT comprises three, north-dipping ramp segments that are overlain by contractional fault-related folds. Based on an analysis of these folds, we produce Quaternary slip profiles along each ramp segment. The fault geometry and slip patterns indicate that segments of the PHT are related by soft-linkage boundaries, where the fault ramps are en echelon and displacements are gradually transferred from one segment to the next. Average Quaternary slip rates on the ramp segments range from 0.44 to 1.7 mm/yr, with preferred rates between 0.62 and 1.28 mm/yr. Using empirical relations among rupture area, magnitude, and coseismic displacement, we estimate the magnitude and frequency of single ( M w 6.5-6.6) and multisegment ( M w 7.1) rupture scenarios for the PHT.

California↗