Susan E. Hough

This study addresses the variability of pseudo-velocity response spectra across an array deployed on stiff soil in the San Fernando Valley during the Northridge (Mw 6.7) aftershock sequence. The separation between stations ranged from 0.5 to 5 km, and the aftershock magnitudes ranged from 2.3 to 4.0. We find that 95-percent of observed response spectra are within a factor of 1.9 to 2.6...

We tend to view aftershocks as after-thoughts in their scientific as well as societal importance. The media often ask seismologists: “Was it just an aftershock?” with the “just” implying that aftershocks present little cause for concern. Seismologists themselves tend to dismiss the importance of events that follow a large mainshock. Even appreciable aftershocks typically generate only a...

An extension of the empirical Green's function (EGF) method is presented that involves determination of source parameters using standard EGF deconvolution, followed by inversion for a common attenuation parameter for a set of colocated events. Recordings of three or more colocated events can thus be used to constrain a single path attenuation estimate. I apply this method to recordings...

I examine the resolution of the type of stress drop estimates that have been used to place observational constraints on the scaling of earthquake source processes. I first show that apparent stress and Brune stress drop are equivalent to within a constant given any source spectral decay between ω1.5 and ω3 (i.e., any plausible value) and so consistent scaling is expected for the two...

We present an analysis of the coherence of seismic ground motion recorded on alluvial sediments in the San Fernando Valley, California. Using aftershocks of the 17 January 1994 Mw6.7 earthquake recorded at a quasi-dense array of portable stations, we analyze the coherence of three well-recorded magnitude 3.7 to 4.0 events over the frequency range 0.5 to 15 Hz and a distance range of 0.5...

Although there is debate on the maximum size of earthquake that is possible on any of several known fault systems in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan region, it is reasonable to assume that the distribution of earthquakes will follow a fractal distribution of rupture areas. For this assumption and an overall slip-rate for the region of approximately 1 centimeter per year, roughly one...