Magnitude scaling relations from P-waves in southern California
Louisa Tsang
Richard M. Allen
Gilead Wurman
University of California, Berkeley
Geophys. Res. Lett., 34 L19304, doi:10.1029/2007GL031077, 2007.
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Abstract
We derive empirical magnitude scaling relationships for southern California using a
dataset of 59 past earthquakes recorded in southern California by the Southern California
Seismic Network (SCSN) between 1992 and 2003. The events range in magnitude from
3.0 to 7.3. We use the maximum predominant period (tau-p-max) and the peak displacement
amplitude (Pd) measured from the first 4 seconds of P-wave arrivals to determine periodmagnitude
and amplitude-magnitude scaling relationships respectively. Our calibration
study shows that the scaling relationships are similar to those derived for northern
California. The average error in magnitude estimates is 0.2 magnitude units for events
with magnitudes smaller than 4.5, 0.3 magnitude units for events with
magnitudes ranging from 4.5 to 6.5, and 0.5 magnitude units for events
with magnitudes greater than 6.5.
© Richard M Allen
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