Impact of broadband seismology on the understanding of strong motions

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Abstract
Most analyses of strong motion attenuation assume simple whole-space type geometrical spreading, namely (1/R) or its modified form e−kR/R. However, broadband data presently becoming available suggests a more complex behavior with substantial crustal effects. Events such as the Sierra Madre event, M = 5.8, triggered the strong motion channels at all of the TERRAscope stations allowing for 0.01-sec sampling of the wavefield. We find that most of the well-defined crustal bodywave arrivals defined and modeled in the 1 to 0.1-hz bandpass also contain high-frequency energy. By comparing the triggered channels with the continuous channels we see that several of the more distant stations triggered on the depth phase sPmP. These phases as well as the depth phase sSmS are obvious in velocity and quite apparent in accelerations. Our best models for Southern California contain a relatively thick low-velocity layer at the surface, roughly 5 km thick with shear velocities below 3 km/sec. This layer or zone, because it appears to vary considerably, controls the wavefield at nearly all frequencies out to about 60 km and yields attenuation decay faster than (1/R). At large ranges the lower crustal triplications dominate and the attenuation curve flattens. Adding random scatters to these layered models adds additional complexity but does not alter the basic flat-layer predictions.