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[1] Epicentral locations of non-volcanic tremors (NVT) in the Mexican subduction zone are determined from the peak of the energy spatial distribution and examined over time. NVT is found to occur persistently at a distance of $215 km from the trench, which we term the "Sweet Spot" because this region probably has the proper conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, and fluid content) for the NVT to occur with minimum shear slip. High-energy NVT episodes are also observed every few months, extending $190 km to $220 km from the trench with durations of a few weeks. During the 2006 slow slip event (SSE) the duration and the recurrence rate of the NVT episodes increased. Low-energy episodes were also observed, independent from the high-energy episodes, $150 km to $190 km from the trench during the 2006 SSE. Both the high and low energy episodes were made up of many individual NVT's that had a range of energy-release-rates. However, the highest energy-release-rates of the high-energy episodes were consistently double those of the low-energy episodes and the persistent activity at the Sweet Spot. We suggest that all of the high-energy episodes are evidence of small, short repeat interval SSE. Given this model, the increased recurrence rate of the high-energy NVT episodes during the 2006 long-term SSE implies that short-term SSE's also increase during the SSE and are therefore triggered by the SSE.Components: 6100 words, 7 figures.

Benchun Duan et al. "A suite of exercises for verifying dynamic earthquake rupture codes. " Seismological Research Letters 89, no. 3 (2018) We describe a set of benchmark exercises that are designed to test if computer codes that simulate dynamic earthquake rupture are working as intended. These types of computer codes are often used to understand how earthquakes operate, and they produce simulation results that include earthquake size, amounts of fault slip, and the patterns of ground shaking and crustal deformation. The benchmark exercises examine a range of features that scientists incorporate in their dynamic earthquake rupture simulations. These include implementations of simple or complex fault geometry, off-fault rock response to an earthquake, stress conditions, and a variety of formulations for fault friction. Many of the benchmarks were designed to investigate scientific problems at the forefronts of earthquake physics and strong ground motions research. The exercises are freely available on our website for use by the scientific community.

5p.International audienceRepeated cross-correlations of ambient seismic noise indicate a long-term seismic velocity change associated with the 2006 M7.5 slow-slip event (SSE) in the Guerrero region, Mexico. Because the SSE does not radiate seismic waves, the measured velocity change cannot be associated with the response of superficial soil layers to strong shaking as observed for regular earthquakes. The perturbation observed maximized at periods between 7 s and 17 s, which correspond to surface waves with sensitivity to the upper and middle crust. The amplitude of the relative velocity change (∼10−3) was much larger than the volumetric deformation (∼10−6) at the depths probed (∼5-20 km). Moreover, the time dependence of the velocity perturbation indicated that it was related to the strain rate rather than the strain itself. This suggests that during strong slow-slip events, the deformation of the overlying crust shows significant nonlinear elastic behavior

We simulate ground motion in southern California from an ensemble of 7 spontaneous rupture models of large (Mw7.8) northwest‐propagating earthquakes on the southern San Andreas fault (ShakeOut‐D). Compared to long‐period spectral accelerations from the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) empirical relations, ShakeOut‐D predicts similar average rock‐site values (i.e., within roughly their epistemic uncertainty), but significantly larger values in Los Angeles and Ventura basins due to wave‐guide focusing effects. The ShakeOut‐D ground motion predictions differ from those of a kinematically parameterized, geometrically similar, scenario rupture: (1) the kinematic rock‐site predictions depart significantly from the common distance‐attenuation trend of the NGA and ShakeOut‐D results and (2) ShakeOut‐D predictions of long‐period spectral acceleration within the basins of the greater Los Angeles area are lower by factors of 2–3 than the corresponding kinematic predictions. We attribute these differences to a less coherent wavefield excited by the complex rupture paths of the ShakeOut‐D sources.