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Some Results of Studying the S-Wave Attenuation Field in the Caucasus using the Short-Period Coda Method

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Abstract

This paper studies the characteristics of seismic coda waves attenuation in Caucasus. Short-period coda waves are analyzed from about 500 earthquakes that occurred in Caucasus between 1989 and 2020. The triaxial digital records of seismic events with M ≥ 4.0 recorded at epicentral distances of 120–600 km are used. S-wave attenuation was estimated from short-period coda waves envelopes at a frequency of ~1 Hz. The structural features of the S-wave attenuation field in the upper mantle of the Caucasus are similar to those for other seismoactive zones. The attenuation field is represented by blocks, which have weak attenuation and are subisometric in plan view, and by strong attenuation zones. In the case of blocks, attenuation decreases in the direction from the boundaries to the central of these blocks (Q factor is up to 300–1000). Sources of the strongest earthquakes in the region with M > 6.5 are confined to the block boundaries. The detailed structure of the attenuation field in the aftershock zones of the 1970 Dagestan, 1988 Spitak and 1991 Racha earthquakes is considered. The results agree with existing ideas on the focal mechanisms of these earthquakes. The structure of the attenuation field corresponds to velocity anomalies, magnetotelluric and microseismic sounding results, and thermal field anomalies.

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Aptikaeva, O.I. Some Results of Studying the S-Wave Attenuation Field in the Caucasus using the Short-Period Coda Method. Seism. Instr. 57, 97–114 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0747923921010047

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