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WITHDRAWN Arias Intensity as an Indicator of Rupture Kinematics in Tsunami Earthquakes

Description: 

WITHDRAWN Tsunami earthquakes are challenging to evaluate using traditional seismic techniques. They have high seismic moment and magnitudes, generate disproportionately large tsunamis, however they produce low ground shaking on land. This inconsistency indicates a lack of correlation between seismic moment and high-frequency radiated energy. Thus, classic strong-motion data do not represent this properly. We present an evaluation of the applicability of absolute Arias Intensity (AAI) as an energetic measure that can distinguish tsunami-type earthquakes from "normal" subduction-type earthquakes, deep intermediate earthquakes, complex and/or slow-rupturing earthquakes. We studied a set of strong-motion data from multiple Mw 7.6–7.8 ground shaking events by normalizing the time-series data into a common time window that corresponds to each event's origin time; this makes it possible to directly compare the time and amount of shaking across the various sites and events. Tsunami earthquakes are characterized by lower than expected AAI values due to their gradual build-up of radiated energy over much longer durations, while most of the energy released by normal subduction-type earthquakes occurs over a much shorter period of time at considerably higher AAI values. Furthermore, our analysis verified that this difference exists even when considering equal sizes and hypocentral locations, indicating that AAI is sensitive to the kinematics of rupture and the radiational efficiency of the seismic source. Therefore, we conclude that AAI is able to discriminate between the various types of earthquakes.

Session: SSJ-SSOC-SSA Joint Session: From Slow to Fast Earthquakes: Bridging the Spectrum of Fault Slip [Poster]

Type: Poster

Date: 4/16/2026

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Sebastian Riquelme

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Poster Number: 151

Authors