Self-similar rupture implied by scaling properties of volcanic earthquakes occurring during the 2004-2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth
By: , and 

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Abstract

We analyze a group of 6073 low-frequency earthquakes recorded during a week-long temporary deployment of broadband seismometers at distances of less than 3 km from the crater at Mount St. Helens in September of 2006. We estimate the seismic moment (M0) and spectral corner frequency (f0) using a spectral ratio approach for events with a high signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio that have a cross-correlation coefficient of 0.8 or greater with at least five other events. A cluster analysis of cross-correlation values indicates that the group of 421 events meeting the SNR and cross-correlation criteria forms eight event families that exhibit largely self-similar scaling. We estimate the M0 and f0 values of the 421 events and calculate their static stress drop and scaled energy (ER/M0) values. The estimated values suggest self-similar scaling within families, as well as between five of eight families (i.e., inline image and inline image constant). We speculate that differences in scaled energy values for the two families with variable scaling may result from a lack of resolution in the velocity model. The observation of self-similar scaling is the first of its kind for such a large group of low-frequency volcanic tectonic events occurring during a single active dome extrusion eruption.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Self-similar rupture implied by scaling properties of volcanic earthquakes occurring during the 2004-2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington
Series title Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth
DOI 10.1002/2014JB011744
Volume 120
Issue 7
Year Published 2015
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Publisher location Richmond, VA
Contributing office(s) Volcano Science Center
Description 17 p.
First page 1966
Last page 1982
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
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