TEMPORAL VARIATION IN THE ATTENUATION OF EARTHQUAKE CODA NEAR STONE CANYON, CALIFORNIA

We present evidence of a temporal trend in the attenuation properties of the high frequency coda of local earthquakes near Stone Canyon, central California. The trend appears as a systematic increase in the energy content of the coda of earthquakes with similar magnitudes and locations over a period of about a year. Present theoretical interpretations of the coda do not satisfactorily explain this observation. Possible explanations are considered.