A Travel-time Path Calibration Strategy for Back-Projection of Large
Earthquakes and Its Application and Validation through the Segmented
Super-Shear Rupture Imaging of the 2002 Mw7.9 Denali earthquake
Abstract
We investigate the impact of source-side 3D velocity structure on
teleseismic travel-time in back projection (BP) analysis of large
earthquakes. We use travel-time data of teleseismic events recorded by
the Hi-Net array to reveal how travel-time errors vary with source
location. In a source area of a few hundred km, where travel-time error
varies dominantly linearly, we propose a new interpolation scheme using
earthquakes located around the rupture of the main-shock to calibrate
the travel-time error, and validate it by relocating inland
M>5.0 earthquakes in central Japan. We then apply it to
image the rupture of the 2002 Denali earthquake. The calibrated BP
result shows that most of the high-frequency radiators are <15
km away from the surface rupture trace. The new result reveals that the
rupture started on the Susitna Glacier Fault with a speed of
~1.4km/s, then propagated onto the Denali Fault and
accelerated to a super-shear speed approaching the crustal P-wave
velocity at approximately 30km. The location of super-shear transition
and rupture speed in BP are highly consistent with that inferred from
the timing and amplitude ratio of the super-shear and trailing Rayleigh
pulses observed on the near fault PS-10 station. Subsequently, the
rupture stagnated for ~15s before penetrating through
the largest asperity, re-accelerated to a speed of ~5.2
km/s and continued on the last 60 km of the Denali fault and part of
Totschunda Fault. This application shows the great potential of the new
BP calibration strategy to refine the rupture imaging of other
mega-earthquakes.