Detailed traveltime tomography and seismic catalogue around the 2019 Mw7.1 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake using dense rapid-response seismic data

Malcolm C. White, Hongjian Fang, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Jamison H. Steidl, & Yehuda Ben-Zion

Published June 8, 2021, SCEC Contribution #10904

We derive a detailed earthquake catalog and v_P and v_S models for the region around the 2019 Mw6.4 and Mw7.1 Ridgecrest, California earthquake sequence using data recorded by rapid-response, densely deployed sensors following the Ridgecrest mainshock. The catalog spans a four-month period, starting on 1 June 2019, and it includes nearly 95,000 events detected and located with iterative updates to our velocity models. The final v_P and v_S models correlate well with surface geology in the top 4 km of the crust and spatial seismicity patterns at depth. Joint interpretation of the derived catalog, velocity models, and surface geology suggests that (a) a compliant low-velocity zone near the Garlock Fault arrested the Mw 7.1 rupture at the southeast end; (b) a stiff high-velocity zone beneath the Coso Mountains acted as a strong barrier that arrested the rupture at the northwest end; and (c) isolated seismicity on the Garlock Fault accommodated transtensional-stepover strain triggered by the main events. The derived catalog and velocity models can be useful for multiple future studies, including further analysis of seismicity patterns, derivations of accurate source properties (e.g., focal mechanisms), and simulations of earthquake processes and radiated seismic wavefields.

Citation
White, M. C., Fang, H., Catchings, R. D., Goldman, M. R., Steidl, J. H., & Ben-Zion, Y. (2021). Detailed traveltime tomography and seismic catalogue around the 2019 Mw7.1 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake using dense rapid-response seismic data. Geophysical Journal International, 227(1), 204-227. doi: 10.1093/gji/ggab224.