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Modeling of the coseismic electromagnetic fields observed during the 2004 M w 6.0 Parkfield earthquake
Author(s) -
Gao Yongxin,
Harris Jerry M.,
Wen Jian,
Huang Yihe,
Twardzik Cedric,
Chen Xiaofei,
Hu Hengshan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl067183
Subject(s) - electrokinetic phenomena , electric field , geology , kinematics , seismology , amplitude , inversion (geology) , electromagnetic field , magnetic field , electromagnetic radiation , physics , optics , materials science , classical mechanics , quantum mechanics , tectonics , nanotechnology
The coseismic electromagnetic signals observed during the 2004 M w 6 Parkfield earthquake are simulated using electrokinetic theory. By using a finite fault source model obtained via kinematic inversion, we calculate the electric and magnetic responses to the earthquake rupture. The result shows that the synthetic electric signals agree with the observed data for both amplitude and wave shape, especially for early portions of the records (first 9 s) after the earthquake, supporting the electrokinetic effect as the reasonable mechanism for the generation of the coseismic electric fields. More work is needed to explain the magnetic fields and the later portions of the electric fields. Analysis shows that the coseismic electromagnetic (EM) signals are sensitive to both the material properties at the location of the EM sensors and the electrochemical heterogeneity in the vicinity of the EM sensors and can be used to characterize the underground electrochemical properties.