gWFM: A Global Catalog of Moderate-Magnitude Earthquakes Studied Using Teleseismic Body Waves

Wimpenny, Sam and Watson, C. Scott (2020) gWFM: A Global Catalog of Moderate-Magnitude Earthquakes Studied Using Teleseismic Body Waves. Seismological Research Letters. ISSN 0895-0695 DOI https://doi.org/10.1785/0220200218

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Abstract

We present a compilation of 2131 high‐fidelity mechanisms and centroid depths of moderate‐magnitude earthquakes derived using synthetic body‐waveform modeling (the Global Waveform‐Modelled Earthquake Catalog v1.0—gWFM), which can be visualized and downloaded online (see Data and Resources). In this article, we describe the methods used to construct the gWFM and present a comparison between the earthquake depths and focal mechanisms in the gWFM with those derived by the International Seismological Centre, Global Centroid Moment Tensor (Global CMT) project, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) W‐phase, as well as 60 events studied using geodesy. We find that 20%–30% of the earthquakes in routine global catalogs have depths that differ by more than 10 km from those in the gWFM. Shallow‐crustal earthquakes of Mw 5–6 are typically the worst located in depth by routine catalogs. Over 90% of the earthquakes in the gWFM are within ±15° in strike, ±5° in dip, and ±15° in rake of the Global CMT and USGS W‐phase best double‐couple moment tensor solutions. However, the mechanisms of shallow Mw 5–6 earthquakes in the routine catalogs can be inaccurate, due to the well‐known insensitivity of long‐period surface waves to the vertical dip‐slip components of the moment tensor. The gWFM is an archive of well‐constrained earthquake source parameters, though it will continue to update as new earthquake mechanisms and depths are published, thereby remaining an up‐to‐date research tool.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2020AREP; IA76
Subjects:	02 - Geodynamics, Geophysics and Tectonics
Divisions:	02 - Geodynamics, Geophysics and Tectonics 08 - Green Open Access 12 - PhD
Journal or Publication Title:	Seismological Research Letters
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1785/0220200218
Depositing User:	Sarah Humbert
Date Deposited:	23 Dec 2020 18:19
Last Modified:	09 Dec 2021 01:01
URI:	http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/id/eprint/4942

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