Tensor momento sísmico para eventos no nordeste do Brasil com amplitudes espectrais: estudos em São Caetano, PE

Abstract

The study of the seismic source is important to improve our understanding of the physical processes that trigger earthquakes, and also for seismotectonics investigations of a region. In this work, we modify an existing methodology for determination of the seismic moment tensor by inversion of spectral amplitudes, and test it with events recorded at local distances near Sao Caetano, Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. The methodology consists of minimizing the difference between observed and predicted values of the spectral amplitudes – with polarity attached - of P, SV and SH waves, to determine the six independent components of the moment tensor. The original methodology inverts spectral amplitudes of direct waves for events in deep mines and recorded at underground seismographic networks. In our study, we adapt this methodology to tectonic events recorded by surface networks. First, the effects of the Earth's free surface are removed from the seismic recordings to recover the incident P, SV and SH waves; then, the corresponding spectral amplitudes are measured and a polarity is attached; finally, the spectral amplitudes are inverted in a least squares sense. At pre-critical incidence angles, the correction is easily achieved by dividing the vertical component of the P and SV waveforms by the corresponding free-surface reflection coefficients; at post-critical incidence angles, a more sophisticated correction involving the Hilbert transform of the recorded waveforms is needed to account for waveform distortion introduced by the coefficient’s phase shift. Correction of the SH components is achieved through division by a factor of 2. The proposed methodology is extremely advantageous since it uses the radiation patterns of both P and S waves to determine the focal mechanism of individual events. The adapted methodology is applied to 16 earthquakes recorded at local distances (< 10 km) by an aftershock network deployed in the locality of São Caetano, PE, between September 15th and December 23rd, 2010. Comparison with a composite focal mechanisms developed in previous works in the study area from fist-motion polarities shows consistency with our moment tensor solutions, thus demonstrating the portability of the spectral amplitude method. Additionally, the ported methodology allows the estimation of moment magnitudes for individual events.