Tremor and its duration‐amplitude distribution at Popocatépetl volcano, Mexico

Abstract

The duration‐amplitude distribution was calculated for the tremor observed at Popocatépetl volcano during episodes of activity in 2000 and 2012–2014. An exponential function was used to obtain a good fit for the duration‐amplitude distribution, and the source of volcanic tremor is probably generated by the transportation of magmatic fluids and its coupling with the host rock within the volcanic conduit. In particular, harmonic tremor has shown large amplitudes, durations, and mean values of amplitude, more than spasmodic or pulsating tremor. This is due to different generation mechanisms: in the case of harmonic tremor, it is produced during magma ascent and lava dome growth, while spasmodic and pulsating tremors are associated with fragmentation of the lava dome and gas emissions. This paper presents the duration‐amplitude distribution as a method to estimate the intensity of the tremor at Popocatépetl, a volcano with the major risk in all Mexico.

Urban Seismology: on the origin of earth vibrations within a city

“…5b ). Signals dominated by discrete vibration frequencies have been observed in seismic data from natural environments, including unrest volcanoes 34 , colliding tabular icebergs 35 or hydrothermal sites 36 and have been interpreted as resulting from regular repeating stick-slip earthquakes through the Dirac comb effect, stating that series of evenly spaced pulses in the time domain transforms to evenly spaced harmonics in the frequency domain 37 . This hypothesis can be explain our observations, as the synchronized jumps of the audience at a given rhythm can be assimilated to the occurrence of regular repeating earthquakes.…”

Variability in the Gas Composition of the Popocatépetl Volcanic Plume

“…The first intra-crater lava dome was observed during March 1996, and since then at least 38 succeeded each other in the summit crater. Their growth is spasmodic, and occurs during very short extrusive episodes several hours to several days long, generally accompanied by low frequency harmonic tremor (Arambula et al, 2016) and explosive events. During an activity cycle, the lava dome endures multiple phases of successive inflation, degassing, deflation, and compaction, occasionally punctuated by its partial destruction.…”

High‐Broadband Seismoacoustic Signature of Vulcanian Explosions at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico

“…After nearly 70 years of quiescence, Popocatépetl underwent a significant reactivation in December 1994 and since then its eruptive activity has been dominated by hydrothermal processes and magmatic degassing, characterized by periodic emissions of gas and ash, occasional Vulcanian explosions, episodic passive effusions of lava, and the extrusion and destruction of lava domes. All of these eruptive dynamics result in abundant seismicity, including long‐period and very‐long‐period events, tremor, and explosion signals (Arciniega‐Ceballos et al, , , , , ; Arámbula‐Mendoza et al, ; Chouet et al, ; De la Cruz‐Reyna et al, ; Roman, ). This activity is associated with rumbling and roaring sounds that can commonly be heard in different localities within about 20 km surrounding Popocatépetl (and occasionally farther, e.g., Puebla, 45 km, presumably for larger explosions and as propagation conditions such as wind direction allow).…”