Alaska landslide research benchmark dataset

We introduce a benchmark dataset of significant landslides across southern Alaska, meticulously curated to facilitate the development of a real-time landslide assessment system. This dataset comprises six distinctive events, selected from the Exotic Seismic Events Catalog, meeting specific criteria such as location, volume estimation, seismic station proximity, and occurrence post-2010. This report describes the essence of the dataset, its importance in developing a real-time assessment system, and the key characteristics of the selected landslide events across southern Alaska

Seismogenic faulting of the sedimentary sequence and laterally variable material properties in the Zagros Mountains (Iran) revealed by the August 2014 Murmuri (E. Dehloran) earthquake sequence

We present source models for the August 2014 Murmuri (Dehloran) earthquake sequence in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. An Mw6.2 mainshock was followed by an aftershock sequence containing five events of Mw ≥ 5.4. Models of P and SH waveforms show that all events had dominantly thrust-faulting mechanisms, and had centroid depths that place them within the thick sedimentary sequence, above the crystalline basement. The combination of our estimated focal mechanisms, relative relocations of the event hypocentres and the surface displacement patterns observed using InSAR imply that the mainshock and largest aftershock ruptured different fault planes and both contributed to the surface deformation. The fault planes both slipped in horizontally elongated patches, possibly due to rheological layering limiting the updip and downdip extent of rupture. The slip vector of the Murmuri mainshock implies that the decollement beneath the Lorestan Arc is weaker than any such feature beneath the Dezful Embayment, providing an explanation for the plan-view sinuosity of the range-front of the Zagros Mountains

Earthquake location methods

Earthquake location is a well-defined inverse problem to which the mathematical fundamentals of existing methodologies were established nearly a century ago. However, in quantitative seismology, achieving accurate, bias-free earthquake locations still remains to be the one of most important and challenging tasks. In this article, we give an overview on various earthquake location methods, that vary from linearized to nonlinear, from grid search to probabilistic algorithms. We review single and multiple-event location techniques, along with computational complexities of each algorithm. An example from a real-world earthquake location problem is given to highlight the importance of data availability in achieving bias-free earthquake locations. We discuss earthquake location accuracy, and uncertainty estimation that originate from measurement and modelling errors. We end with a list that summarizes publicly available earthquake location software packages. We conclude with an outlook for future directions towards data driven machine learning techniques in earthquake location research

Seismica: Open science and community building in a new diamond open access journal

Seismica, a new Diamond Open Access journal in Seismology and Earthquake Science, launched in July 2022. One year into production, we have received 90 submissions, published 25 articles and have over 50 works in the pipeline. Seismica is an independent journal, designed and built by a global community of researchers with the aim of making scientific research freely available, with no publication or subscription fees.Beyond traditional research articles, Seismica publishes an innovative set of peer-reviewed reports including fast reports, null results/failed experiments, software reports, and instrument deployment/field campaign reports. Seismica accepts papers within the very broad scope of fault slip and earthquake source phenomena, earthquake records, imaging the Earth, theoretical and computational seismology, beyond Earth-tectonic applications, techniques and instrumentation, earthquake engineering and engineering seismology, and earthquake education, community engagement, and other social science methods.The new journal's philosophy was developed through continuous communication among broader community members and strives to be accessible, transparent, respectful, credible, and progressive. In the past year, Seismica has evolved both as a journal and a community dedicated to transparency in science, and supporting not not only open access articles, but also a fully open research process. Seismica addresses community needs by publishing public reviews along with the paper, promoting a fair and unbiased reviewing process while providing an insider look into reviewing that benefits early-career researchers; valuing time and expertise by crediting all contributors to a publication; encouraging preprint sharing; allowing authors to keep the copyright to their work; and helping authors share and promote their research once published.The need for a Diamond Open Access journal and the necessity to share seismology research for broader community benefits is evident. The successful launch and growth of Seismica in the past year demonstrates that this model is responsive, inclusive and sustainable

The 2017 July 20 M-w 6.6 Bodrum-Kos earthquake illuminates active faulting in the Gulf of Gokova, SW Turkey

The 2017 July 20 Bodrum-Kos earthquake (Mw 6.6) is the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the Gokova graben, one of the primary physiographic features of SW Turkey. Using seismology and satellite geodesy, we investigate its source characteristics, aftershock distribution, relationship with earlier instrumental seismicity, and association with known surface faulting. We show that the earthquake ruptured a planar (non-listric) normal fault that dips gently (similar to 37.) northwards beneath the northern Gulf of Gokova coastline, initiating at a depth of similar to 11 km and rupturing upwards and bilaterally. Aftershocks concentrate around (but not necessarily on) the western, eastern and downdip edges of the similar to 25 km-long rupture plane, and have maximum focal depths of similar to 15 km. The main shock surface trace bounds a bathymetric ridge east of Kos island, and may be one of the several faults imaged previously in this area using seismic profiling and multibeam sonar. The fault thus lies within the hangingwall of the lower-angle (similar to 20. N-dipping) South Datc a fault, which it presumably cross-cuts at depth. Through calibrated relocations, we confirmthat sequences of moderate (Mw 5-5.5) earthquakes in 1989, 2004 and 2005 occurred in the eastern and central Gulf of Gokova, many of them likely within the hangingwall of the S-dipping Gokova fault. Overall, our results indicate a switch from dominant S-dipping normal faulting in the eastern graben to dominant N-dipping faulting in the west, but we find no support for a proposed NE-SW-trending left-lateral fault in the central Gulf; most colocated focal mechanisms involve similar to E-W normal faulting. Finally, the Bodrum-Kos main shock adds to growing set of examples from across the Aegean region of large normal faulting earthquakes that cut the seismogenic layer as simple planar structures