Site response, attenuation and source spectra of S waves along the Guerrero, Mexico, subduction zone

Acceleration spectra from nine earthquakes and up to 11 stations per earthquake are inverted to find the source spectra, the site response, and the quality factor Q of S waves. This method is applied to moderate earthquakes (4.0 0.8 Hz does not follow a simple linear relation as observed in previous studies of attenuation in other regions. When the source spectra are interpreted in terms of Brune's model, the stress drops obtained are less than 20 bars for the four larger events analyzed. The site functions obtained indicate that although all the stations used are on rock, the effect of the near surface geology caused important amplifications at some stations.

[1]  Q from coda waves near Petatlán, Guerrero, Mexico , 1983 .

[2]  Robert B. Herrmann,et al.  A numerical study of P-, SV-, and SH-wave generation in a plane layered medium , 1980 .

[3]  Paul G. Richards,et al.  The apparent attenuation of a scattering medium , 1983 .

[4]  A. Papageorgiou,et al.  A specific barrier model for the quantitative description of inhomogeneous faulting and the prediction of strong ground motion. I. Description of the model , 1983 .

[5]  Raúl R. Castro,et al.  Some aspects of source characteristics of the 19 September 1985 Michoacan earthquake and ground motion amplification in and near Mexico City from strong motion data , 1988 .

[6]  H. Kanamori,et al.  An earthquake doublet in Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico , 1984 .

[7]  S. K. Singh,et al.  Seismic gaps and recurrence periods of large earthquakes along the Mexican subduction zone: A reexamination , 1981 .

[8]  Keiiti Aki,et al.  Site amplification of coda waves from local earthquakes in central California , 1986 .

[9]  R. Quaas,et al.  The Mexico Earthquake of September 19, 1985—Effect of Magnitude on the Character of Strong Ground Motion: An Example from the Guerrero, Mexico Strong Motion Network , 1988 .

[10]  W. Menke.  Geophysical data analysis : discrete inverse theory , 1984 .

[11]  John E. Vidale,et al.  Influence of focal mechanism on peak accelerations of strong motions of the Whittier Narrows, California, earthquake and an aftershock , 1989 .

[12]  Charles S. Mueller,et al.  Source parameters of the 1980 Mammoth Lakes, California, earthquake sequence , 1982 .

[13]  John G. Anderson,et al.  Source spectra and RMS acceleration of Mexican subduction zone earthquakes , 1987 .

[14]  S. K. Singh,et al.  P waveform of large, shallow earthquakes along the Mexican subduction zone , 1984 .

[15]  E. Bessonova.  Investigation of the mechanism of earthquakes , 1960 .

[16]  James N. Brune,et al.  Spectral attenuation of SH waves along the Imperial fault , 1982 .

[17]  John G. Anderson,et al.  A MODEL FOR THE SHAPE OF THE FOURIER AMPLITUDE SPECTRUM OF ACCELERATION AT HIGH FREQUENCIES , 1984 .

[18]  Donald V. Helmberger,et al.  Elastic finite-difference modeling of the 1971 San Fernando , 1988 .

[19]  David M. Boore,et al.  Short-period P- and S-wave radiation from large earthquakes: Implications for spectral scaling relations , 1986 .

[20]  J. Brune.  Tectonic stress and the spectra of seismic shear waves from earthquakes , 1970 .

[21]  Paul G. Richards,et al.  Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods , 1980 .

[22]  L. M. Baker,et al.  Attenuation near Anza, California , 1988 .

[23]  D. A. Novelo-Casanova,et al.  Time‐space variation of seismic S‐wave coda attenuation (Qc−1) and magnitude distribution (b‐values) for the Petatlan Earthquake , 1985 .

[24]  M. Mahdyiar,et al.  Moment magnitude scale for local earthquakes in the Petatlan region, Mexico, based on recorded peak horizontal velocity , 1986 .

[25]  John G. Anderson.  A PRELIMINARY DESCRIPTIVE MODEL FOR THE DISTANCE DEPENDENCE OF THE SPECTRAL DECAY PARAMETER IN , 1991 .

[26]  D. Hatzfeld,et al.  Observations of hard-rock site effects , 1984 .

[27]  E. Chael,et al.  Recent large earthquakes along the Middle American Trench and their implications for the subduction process , 1982 .

[28]  A. Rovelli.  On the frequency dependence of Q in friuli from shortperiod digital records , 1982 .

[29]  J G Anderson,et al.  Strong Ground Motion from the Michoacan, Mexico, Earthquake , 1986, Science.

[30]  D. L. Anderson,et al.  Theoretical Basis of Some Empirical Relations in Seismology by Hiroo Kanamori And , 1975 .

[31]  Arthur Frankel,et al.  The effects of attenuation and site response on the spectra of microearthquakes in the northeastern Caribbean , 1982 .