Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 6 May 1994:
Vol. 264. no. 5160, pp. 804 - 809
DOI: 10.1126/science.264.5160.804
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Earthquakes with Non—Double-Couple Mechanisms

Cliff Frohlich 1

1 Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, 8701 North Mopac Boulevard, Austin, TX 78759, USA.

Seismological observations confirm that the pattern of seismic waves from some earthquakes cannot be produced by slip along a planar fault surface. More than one physical mechanism is required to explain the observed varieties of these non—double-couple earthquakes. The simplest explanation is that some earthquakes are complex, with stress released on two or more suitably oriented, nonparallel fault surfaces. However, some shallow earthquakes in volcanic and geothermal areas require other explanations. Current research focuses on whether fault complexity explains most observed non—double-couple earthquakes and to what extent ordinary earthquakes have non—double-couple components.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Puzzle of the 1996 Bardarbunga, Iceland, Earthquake: No Volumetric Component in the Source Mechanism.
H. Tkalcic, D. S. Dreger, G. R. Foulger, and B. R. Julian (2009)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 99, 3077-3085
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Focal Mechanisms from Sparse Observations by Nonlinear Inversion of Amplitudes: Method and Tests on Synthetic and Real Data.
M. Godano, M. Regnier, A. Deschamps, T. Bardainne, and E. Gaucher (2009)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 99, 2243-2264
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Detailed Waveform Inversion for Moment Tensors of M~4 Events: Examples from the Corinth Gulf, Greece.
J. Zahradnik, J. Jansky, and V. Plicka (2008)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98, 2756-2771
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Quick Fault-Plane Identification by a Geometrical Method: Application to the MW 6.2 Leonidio Earthquake, 6 January 2008, Greece.
J. Zahradnik, F. Gallovic, E. Sokos, A. Serpetsidaki, and A. Tselentis (2008)
Seismological Research Letters 79, 653-662
   Full Text »    PDF »
Characterization of Acoustic Emission Sources in a Rock Salt Specimen under Triaxial Compression.
G. Manthei (2005)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 95, 1674-1700
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The 2002 Denali Fault and 2001 Kunlun Fault Earthquakes: Complex Rupture Processes of Two Large Strike-Slip Events.
A. A. Ozacar and S. L. Beck (2004)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 94, S278-S292
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Low-Frequency Properties of Intermediate-Focus Earthquakes.
(2002)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92, 2434-2448
Dilational Processes Accompanying Earthquakes in the Long Valley Caldera.
D. S. Dreger, H. Tkal, and M. Johnston (2000)
Science 288, 122-125
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Defining the scalar moment of a seismic source with a general moment tensor.
D. Bowers and J. A. Hudson (1999)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89, 1390-1394
   Abstract »    PDF »
Teleseismic Search for Slow Precursors to Large Earthquakes.
P. F. Ihmle, P. F. Ihmle, and T. H. Jordan (1994)
Science 266, 1547-1551
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)