Discrimination between earthquakes and chemical explosions is a significant
problem facing many regional seismic networks around the world. Both earthquakes and
chemical explosions are sources of elastic waves; therefore, both are recorded by seismic
networks.
Interest in the field of explosion discrimination grew enormously as a result of the
negotiations for and of support of the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) in 1963, the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, and the current Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) negotiated in 1993 and adopted in 1996. The possibility of negotiating and
verifying the CTBT depends in part on the ability of seismic networks to seismically
detect and identify underground nuclear tests and other seismic sources, such as
earthquakes.
Currently, interest in event discrimination is also associated with the identification
and search for active seismic sources in areas where both earthquakes and explosions are
recorded by seismic networks. If explosions are not removed from the seismic catalogs of
these areas, there is an “explosion contamination” that can result in a misinterpretation of
the regional tectonics, and an erroneous assessment of the natural seismic hazard. This
“explosion contamination” is the particular aspect that motivated the present study.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela Centroamericana de Geologí
