Regional spectral analysis of three moderate earthquakes in Northeastern North America

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
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Abstract

We analyze Fourier spectra obtained from the horizontal components of broadband and accelerogram data from the 1997 Cap-Rouge, the 2002 Ausable Forks, and the 2005 Rivière-du-Loup earthquakes, recorded by Canadian and American stations sited on rock at hypocentral distances from 23 to 602 km. We check the recorded spectra closely for anomalies that might result from site resonance or source effects. We use Beresnev and Atkinson’s (1997) near-surface velocity structures and Boore and Joyner’s (1997) quarter-wave method to estimate site response at hard- and soft-rock sites. We revise the Street et al. (1975) model for geometrical spreading, adopting a crossover distance of ro=50 km instead of 100 km. We obtain an average attenuation of Q=410±25f0.50±0.03 for S+Lg+surface waves with ray paths in the Appalachian and southeastern Grenville Provinces. We correct the recorded spectra for attenuation and site response to estimate source spectral shape and radiated energy for these three earthquakes and the 1988 M 5.8 Saguenay earthquake. The Brune stress drops range from 130 to 419 bars, and the apparent stresses range from 39 to 63 bars. The corrected source spectral shapes of these earthquakes are somewhat variable for frequencies from 0.2 to 2 Hz, falling slightly below the fitted Brune spectra.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Regional spectral analysis of three moderate earthquakes in Northeastern North America
Series title Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
DOI 10.1785/0120100225
Volume 101
Issue 4
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher Seismological Society of America
Publisher location El Cerrito, CA
Contributing office(s) Earthquake Science Center
Description 14 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
First page 1769
Last page 1782
Country United States;Canada
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