Investigation of an Unusually Shallow Earthquake Sequence in Mogul, NV from a Discrimination Perspective (Postprint): Annual Report 1

Abstract

Distinction between very shallow (1-4 km deep) earthquakes and underground nuclear explosions remains an important issue in discrimination research. This is because very shallow earthquakes are seldom well-recorded and documented. As a consequence, their source parameters, scaling and their local and regional propagation characteristics are not well understood. Thus, unlike for deeper events, the effectiveness of the discrimination algorithms when applied to unusually shallow earthquakes has been only rarely determined. The primary objective of this study is a detailed investigation of a sequence of earthquakes that occurred during 2008 west of Reno, Nevada, in Mogul. This sequence consisted of over 1700 earthquakes with ML of 1.0 or greater, concentrated in depth between 1 and 4 km and ranging in magnitude up to Mw 5.0 (the main shock ). Preliminary analyses of the main shock have revealed uncharacteristically high amplitude near-field ground motions and uncharacteristically rapid attenuation with distance, which could affect the magnitude estimates and the discrimination metrics. For our investigations, we use a unique broadband and strong-motion recording database, from stations as close as 1 km from the epicenter of the main shock and most of the smaller events.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 09, 2012
Accession Number
ADA563497

Entities

People

  • Danielle Molisee
  • David Von Seggern
  • Glenn Biasi
  • Ileana M. Tibuleac
  • John G. Anderson

Organizations

  • University of Nevada, Reno

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Algorithms
  • Amplitude
  • Attenuation
  • Broadband
  • California
  • Databases
  • Discrimination
  • Earthquakes
  • Explosions
  • Frequency
  • Ground Based
  • Near Field
  • Nuclear Explosions
  • Surface Waves
  • Waves

Readers

  • Seismology
  • Systems Analysis and Design