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Institute
Clusty is a new open source toolbox dedicated to earthquake clustering based on waveforms recorded across a network of seismic stations. Its main application is the study of active faults and the detection and characterization of faults and fault networks. By using a density-based clustering approach, earthquakes pertaining to a common fault can be recognized even over long fault segments, and the first-order geometry and extent of active faults can be inferred. Clusty implements multiple techniques to compute a waveform based network similarity from maximum cross-correlation coefficients at multiple stations. The clustering procedure is designed to be transparent and parameters can be easily tuned. It is supported by a number of analysis visualization tools which help to assess the homogeneity within each cluster and the differences among distinct clusters. The toolbox returns graphical representations of the results. A list of representative events and stacked waveforms facilitate further analyses like moment tensor inversion. Results obtained in various frequency bands can be combined to account for large magnitude ranges. Thanks to the simple configuration, the toolbox is easily adaptable to new data sets and to large magnitude ranges. To show the potential of our new toolbox, we apply Clusty to the aftershock sequence of the M-w 6.9 25 October 2018 Zakynthos (Greece) Earthquake. Thanks to the complex tectonic setting at the western termination of the Hellenic Subduction System where multiple faults and faulting styles operate simultaneously, the Zakynthos data set provides an ideal case-study for our clustering analysis toolbox. Our results support the activation of several faults and provide insight into the geometry of faults or fault segments. We identify two large thrust faulting clusters in the vicinity of the main shock and multiple strike-slip clusters to the east, west and south of these clusters. Despite its location within the largest thrust cluster, the main shock does not show a high waveform similarity to any of the clusters. This is consistent with the results of other studies suggesting a complex failure mechanism for the main shock. We propose the existence of conjugated strike-slip faults in the south of the study area. Our waveform similarity based clustering toolbox is able to reveal distinct event clusters which cannot be discriminated based on locations and/or timing only. Additionally, the clustering results allows distinction between fault and auxiliary planes of focal mechanisms and to associate them to known active faults.
The Alpine mountains in central Europe are characterized by a heterogeneous crust accumulating different tectonic units and blocks in close proximity to sedimentary foreland basins. Centroid moment tensor inversion provides insight into the faulting mechanisms of earthquakes and related tectonic processes but is significantly aggravated in such an environment. Thanks to the dense AlpArray seismic network and our flexible bootstrap-based inversion tool Grond, we are able to test different setups with respect to the uncertainties of the obtained moment tensors and centroid locations. We evaluate the influence of frequency bands, azimuthal gaps, input data types, and distance ranges and study the occurrence and reliability of non-double-couple (DC) components. We infer that for most earthquakes (M-w >= 3.3) a combination of time domain full waveforms and frequency domain amplitude spectra in a frequency band of 0.02-0.07 Hz is suitable. Relying on the results of our methodological tests, we perform deviatoric moment tensor (MT) inversions for events with M-w > 3.0. Here, we present 75 solutions for earthquakes between January 2016 and December 2019 and analyze our results in the seismotectonic context of historical earthquakes, seismic activity of the last 3 decades, and GNSS deformation data. We study regions of comparably high seismic activity during the last decades, namely the Western Alps, the region around Lake Garda, and the eastern Southern Alps, as well as clusters further from the study region, i.e., in the northern Dinarides and the Apennines. Seismicity is particularly low in the Eastern Alps and in parts of the Central Alps. We apply a clustering algorithm to focal mechanisms, considering additional mechanisms from existing catalogs. Related to the N-S compressional regime, E-W-to-ENE-WSW-striking thrust faulting is mainly observed in the Friuli area in the eastern Southern Alps. Strike-slip faulting with a similarly oriented pressure axis is observed along the northern margin of the Central Alps and in the northern Dinarides. NW-SE-striking normal faulting is observed in the NW Alps, showing a similar strike direction to normal faulting earthquakes in the Apennines. Both our centroid depths and hypocentral depths in existing catalogs indicate that Alpine seismicity is predominantly very shallow; about 80% of the studied events have depths shallower than 10 km.
The correct orientation of seismic sensors is critical for studies such as full moment tensor inversion, receiver function analysis, and shear-wave splitting. Therefore, the orientation of horizontal components needs to be checked and verified systematically. This study relies on two different waveform-based approaches, to assess the sensor orientations of the broadband network of the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI). The network is an important backbone for seismological research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and provides a comprehensive seismic data set for the North Anatolian fault. In recent years, this region became a worldwide field laboratory for continental transform faults. A systematic survey of the sensor orientations of the entire network, as presented here, facilitates related seismic studies. We apply two independent orientation tests, based on the polarization of P waves and Rayleigh waves to 123 broadband seismic stations, covering a period of 15 yr (2004-2018). For 114 stations, we obtain stable results with both methods. Approximately, 80% of the results agree with each other within 10 degrees. Both methods indicate that about 40% of the stations are misoriented by more than 10 degrees. Among these, 20 stations are misoriented by more than 20 degrees. We observe temporal changes of sensor orientation that coincide with maintenance work or instrument replacement. We provide time-dependent sensor misorientation correction values for the KOERI network in the supplemental material.
Hydraulic fracturing is performed to enhance rock permeability, for example, in the frame of geothermal energy production or shale gas exploitation, and can potentially trigger induced seismicity. The tracking of increased permeabilities and the fracturing extent is often based on the microseismic event distribution within the stimulated rock volume, but it is debated whether the microseismic activity adequately depicts the fracture formation. We are able to record tilt signals that appear as long-period transients (<180 s) on two broadband seismometers installed close (17-72 m) to newly formed, meter-scale hydraulic fractures. With this observation, we can overcome the limitations of the microseismic monitoring alone and verify the fracture mapping. Our analysis for the first time combines a catalog of previously analyzed acoustic emissions ([AEs] durations of 20 ms), indirectly mapping the fractures, with unique tilt signals, that provide independent, direct insights into the deformation of the rock. The analysis allows to identify different phases of the fracturing process including the (re)opening, growth, and aftergrowth of fractures. Further, it helps to differentiate between the formation of complex fracture networks and single macrofractures, and it validates the AE fracture mapping. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the fracturing processes, which may help to reduce fluid-injection-induced seismicity and validate efficient fracture formation. <br /> Plain Language Summary Hydraulic fracturing (HF) describes the opening of fractures in rocks by injecting fluids under high pressure. The new fractures not only can facilitate the extraction of shale gas but can also be used to heat up water in the subsurface in enhanced geothermal systems, a corner stone of renewable energy production. The fracture formation is inherently accompanied by small, nonfelt earthquakes (microseismic events). Occasionally, larger events felt by the population can be induced by the subsurface operations. Avoiding such events is important for the acceptance of HF operations and requires a detailed knowledge about the fracture formation. We jointly analyze two very different data sets recorded during mine-scale HF experiments: (a) the tilting of the ground caused by the opening of the fractures, as recorded by broadband seismometers-usually deployed for earthquake monitoring-installed close to the experiments and (b) a catalog of acoustic emissions, seismic signals of few milliseconds emitted by tiny cracks around the forming hydraulic fracture. The novel joint analysis allows to characterize the fracturing processes in greater detail, contributing to the understanding of the physical processes, which may help to understand fluid-injection-induced seismicity and validate the formation of hydraulic fractures.
In public perception, abnormal animal behavior is widely assumed to be a potential earthquake precursor, in strong contrast to the viewpoint in natural sciences. Proponents of earthquake prediction via animals claim that animals feel and react abnormally to small changes in environmental and physico-chemical parameters related to the earthquake preparation process. In seismology, however, observational evidence for changes of physical parameters before earthquakes is very weak. In this study, we reviewed 180 publications regarding abnormal animal behavior before earthquakes and analyze and discuss them with respect to (1) magnitude-distance relations, (2) foreshock activity, and (3) the quality and length of the published observations. More than 700 records of claimed animal precursors related to 160 earthquakes are reviewed with unusual behavior of more than 130 species. The precursor time ranges from months to seconds prior to the earthquakes, and the distances from a few to hundreds of kilometers. However, only 14 time series were published, whereas all other records are single observations. The time series are often short (the longest is 1 yr), or only small excerpts of the full data set are shown. The probability density of foreshocks and the occurrence of animal precursors are strikingly similar, suggesting that at least parts of the reported animal precursors are in fact related to foreshocks. Another major difficulty for a systematic and statistical analysis is the high diversity of data, which are often only anecdotal and retrospective. The study clearly demonstrates strong weaknesses or even deficits in many of the published reports on possible abnormal animal behavior. To improve the research on precursors, we suggest a scheme of yes and no questions to be assessed to ensure the quality of such claims.
Centroid moment tensor inversion can provide insight into ongoing tectonic processes and active faults. In the Alpine mountains (central Europe), challenges result from low signal-to-noise ratios of earthquakes with small to moderate magnitudes and complex wave propagation effects through the heterogeneous crustal structure of the mountain belt. In this thesis, I make use of the temporary installation of the dense AlpArray seismic network (AASN) to establish a work flow to study seismic source processes and enhance the knowledge of the Alpine seismicity. The cumulative thesis comprises four publications on the topics of large seismic networks, seismic source processes in the Alps, their link to tectonics and stress field, and the inclusion of small magnitude earthquakes into studies of active faults.
Dealing with hundreds of stations of the dense AASN requires the automated assessment of data and metadata quality. I developed the open source toolbox AutoStatsQ to perform an automated data quality control. Its first application to the AlpArray seismic network has revealed significant errors of amplitude gains and sensor orientations. A second application of the orientation test to the Turkish KOERI network, based on Rayleigh wave polarization, further illustrated the potential in comparison to a P wave polarization method. Taking advantage of the gain and orientation results of the AASN, I tested different inversion settings and input data types to approach the specific challenges of centroid moment tensor (CMT) inversions in the Alps. A comparative study was carried out to define the best fitting procedures.
The application to 4 years of seismicity in the Alps (2016-2019) substantially enhanced the amount of moment tensor solutions in the region. We provide a list of moment tensors solutions down to magnitude Mw 3.1. Spatial patterns of typical focal mechanisms were analyzed in the seismotectonic context, by comparing them to long-term seismicity, historical earthquakes and observations of strain rates. Additionally, we use our MT solutions to investigate stress regimes and orientations along the Alpine chain. Finally, I addressed the challenge of including smaller magnitude events into the study of active faults and source processes. The open-source toolbox Clusty was developed for the clustering of earthquakes based on waveforms recorded across a network of seismic stations. The similarity of waveforms reflects both, the location and the similarity of source mechanisms. Therefore the clustering bears the opportunity to identify earthquakes of similar faulting styles, even when centroid moment tensor inversion is not possible due to low signal-to-noise ratios of surface waves or oversimplified velocity models. The toolbox is described through an application to the Zakynthos 2018 aftershock sequence and I subsequently discuss its potential application to weak earthquakes (Mw<3.1) in the Alps.
Earthquake localization is both a necessity within the field of seismology, and a prerequisite for further analysis such as source studies and hazard assessment. Traditional localization methods often rely on manually picked phases. We present an alternative approach using deep learning that once trained can predict hypocenter locations efficiently. In seismology, neural networks have typically been trained with either single-station records or based on features that have been extracted previously from the waveforms. We use three-component full-waveform records of multiple stations directly. This means no information is lost during preprocessing and preparation of the data does not require expert knowledge. The first convolutional layer of our deep convolutional neural network (CNN) becomes sensitive to features that characterize the waveforms it is trained on. We show that this layer can therefore additionally be used as an event detector. As a test case, we trained our CNN using more than 2000 earthquake swarm events from West Bohemia, recorded by nine local three-component stations. The CNN successfully located 908 validation events with standard deviations of 56.4 m in east-west, 123.8 m in north-south, and 136.3 m in vertical direction compared to a double-difference relocated reference catalog. The detector is sensitive to events with magnitudes down to M-L = -0.8 with 3.5% false positive detections.
As a consequence of the rapid growing worldwide seismic data set, a huge variety of automatized data-processing methods have been developed. To perform automatized waveform-based seismological studies aiming for magnitudes or source process inversion, it is crucial to identify network stations with erroneous transfer functions, gain factors, or component orientations. We developed a new tool dedicated to automated station quality control of dense seismic networks and arrays. The python-based AutoStatsQ toolbox uses the pyrocko seismic data-processing environment. The toolbox automatically downloads data and metadata for selected teleseismic events and performs different tests. As a result, relative gain factors, sensor orientation corrections, and reliable frequency bands are computed for all stations in a chosen time period. Relative gain factors are calculated for all stations and events in a time domain based on maximum P-phase amplitudes. A Rayleigh-wave polarization analysis is used to identify deviating sensor orientations. The power spectra of all stations in a given frequency range are compared with synthetic ones, accessing Global Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) solutions. Frequency ranges of coinciding synthetic and recorded power spectral densities (PSDs) may serve as guidelines for choosing band-pass filters for moment tensor (MT) inversion and help confirm the corner frequency of the instrument. The toolbox was applied to the permanent and temporary AlpArray networks as well as to the denser SWATH-D network, a total of over 750 stations. Stations with significantly deviating gain factors were identified, as well as stations with inverse polarity and misorientations of the horizontal components. The tool can be used to quickly access network quality and to omit or correct stations before MT inversion. Electronic Supplement: List of teleseismic events and tables of median, mean, and standard deviation of relative gain factors, and figures of relative gain factors of all event-station pairs, waveform example showing inverse polarity of horizontal components on ZS.D125, histograms of median, mean, and standard deviation of the correction angles, examples of synthetic and recorded frequency spectra of ZS.D046 and NI.VINO.
The Vogtland, located at the border region between the Czech Republic and Germany, is known for Holocene volcanism, gas and fluid emissions as well as for reoccurring earthquake swarms, pointing towards a high geodynamic activity. During the earthquake swarm in 2008/2009, a temporary array was installed close to Rohrbach (Germany), at an epicentral distance of about 10 km from the Nový Kostel focal zone (aperture ~0.75 km).
22 events of the recorded swarm were selected to set up a source array. Source arrays are spatially clustered earthquakes, which can be used in a similar manner as receiver array recordings of single events (Green’s functions reciprocity). The application of array seismology techniques like beam forming requires similar waveforms and precisely known origin times and locations. The resemblance of waveforms was assured by visual selection of events and quantified with the calculation of cross-correlation coefficients. We observed that the different events recorded at a single station generally show greater resemblances than the recordings of one event at all stations of the receiver array. This indicates a heterogeneous subsurface beneath the receiver array and a comparably homogeneous source array volume with respect to the frequency-dependent resolution of both arrays.
Beam forming was applied on the Z, N and E component recordings of the source array events at 11 stations, and the results were analysed with respect to converted or reflected crustal phases. While the theoretical back azimuth of the direct phases match the beam forming results in case of the source array analysis, in case of receiver array beam forming derivations of 15°-25° are observed.
PS phases, closely following the direct P phase and presumably SP phases, arriving shortly before the direct S phase can be observed on several stations. Based on the time differences to the direct P and S phases we inferred a conversion depth of about 0.6-0.9 km. A second deeper source array was set up in order to interpret a structural phase arriving 0.85 s after the direct P phase on records of deeper events only.
Additionally to the source array beam forming method an analytical method with a fixed medium velocity and a grid search method, both for determining conversion/ reflection locations of phases traveling off the direct line between source and receiver array, were developed and applied to other observed phases.
In conclusion, we think that the distinct beam forming results along with the striking waveform resemblance reveal the opportunities of using source arrays consisting of small swarm events for the analysis of crustal structures.