ANATOMY OF SEISMOGRAMS
F U R T H E R TITLES IN T H I S SERIES
VOLUMES 1-5 AND 10-12 ARE OUT OF PRINT
6 L. CIVETTA, P. GASPARINI, G. LUONGOandA. RAPOLLA (Editors)
PHYSICAL VOLCANOLOGY
7 M. BATH
SPECTRAL ANALYSIS IN GEOPHYSICS
8 O. KULHANEK
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL FILTERING IN GEOPHYSICS
9 T. RIKITAKE
EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION
13 V.C. DRAGOMIR, D.N. GHITAU, M.S. MIHAILESCUand
M.G. ROTARU
THEORY OF THE EARTH'S SHAPE
14A A.J. BERKHOUT
SEISMIC MIGRATION
Imaging of acoustic energy by wave field extrapolation
B. Practical aspects
15 E. BISZTRICSANYand GY. SZEIDOVITZ (Editors)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTEENTH ASSEMBLY OF THE
EUROPEAN SEISMOLOGICAL COMMISION
16 P. MALISCHEWSKY
SURFACE WAVES AND DISCONTINUITIES
17 A.M.JESSOP
THERMAL GEOPHYSICS
Developments in Solid Earth Geophysics
18
ANATOMY OF
SEISMOGRAMS
OTA KULHANEK
Seismological Section, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
For the IASPEI/Unesco Working Group on
I A S Ρ ΕI Manual of Seismogram Interpretation
ELSEVIER
Amsterdam — Oxford — New York — Tokyo
ELSEVIER SCIENCE B.V.
Sara Burgerhartstraat 25
P.O. Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
First edition: 1990
Second impression: 1997
ISBN: 0 444 88375 4
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ν
/ remember when our island was shaken by an earthquake
some years ago, there was an impudent mountebank who
sold pills which as he told to the country people were very
good against an earthquake,
"The Tatler", Joseph Addison 1672-1719
VI
PREFACE
Numerous manuals for seismogram interpretation and analysis have been
circulating among seismologists over the past several decades. Many of them,
often issued as in-house handbooks guiding analysts at a particular
seismographic observatory, have been of rather local or regional importance.
Some have gained world-wide recognition and a few are still employed in
routine work at observatories around the world as well as for training
activities of various kinds. For instance, the special publication Principles
Underlying the Interpretation of Seismograms has long been used as a
standard reference book. It was written in 1951 by F. Neumann, a
geophysicist affiliated with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and
necessarily describes routines commonly employed at that organisation. In
1968, R. B. Simon of the Colorado School of Mines wrote Earthquake
Interpretations. She collected an impressive suite of records made at
seismographic stations Bergen Park (Colorado) and Palisades (New York) and
presented the corresponding phase identifications and commentaries. In 1986,
G. Payo published his excellent Introduccion al Analysis de Sismogramas. His
work, written in Spanish, comprises a short introduction and 87 plates with
seismograms from the Toledo seismographic station in southern Spain.
Extensive commentaries are included.
All the above publications make use of seismic records produced by
standard analog narrow-band seismographs and illustrate rather well the
developments since the early 1950's. It is obvious that any similar book can
hardly be considered as a perfect final product, simply because our highly
fragmental knowledge of the Earth's interior, the available instrumentation,
associated interpretation and analysis techniques and theory are continuously
improving. Hence, a frequent updating of existing interpretation codes and
routines is not only welcomed but is in fact a prerequisite for modern
seismogram interpretation, as well as for research.
The primary goal of this book is to present in a rather tutorial form all the
necessary information and techniques pertinent to essential seismogram
interpretation. The treatment is descriptive rather than mathematical. Emphasis
is laid on practical aspects especially for the benefit of students and junior
seismogram interpreters affiliated with seismographic stations and
observatories. However, even workers more knowledgeable in seismology and
curious enough in the detailed deciphering of seismogram pecularities may
find the presentation useful.
In the course of this book, I shall strictly distinguish between terms
seismogram interpretation and seismogram analysis. The former, being the
content of the book, is devoted to the art of identification of various seismic
wave types appearing on seismograms, including the recognition of the waves
VII
with respect to possible travel paths through the Earth. The latter includes,
first of all, determination of basic source parameters (origin time, hypocenter
coordinates, size) but may also incorporate rather advanced studies (e.g.,
wave-form modeling, estimation of velocity distribution and moment tensor
determination). A large part of seismogram analysis is apparently a domain
of research and beyond the scope of this book. However, phase identification
is a doorway and obviously without correct seismogram interpretation hardly
any analysis would be possible.
The book is divided into two parts: a verbal description (Chapters 1-6) and
a collection of 55 plates (Chapter 7) with actual seismograms. The verbal
description explains in a rather elementary form the most fundamental
physical phenomena relevant to seismogram appearance. The collection of
plates exhibits a large variety of seismogram examples and corresponding
interpretations covering different seismic sources, wave types, epicentral
distances, focal depths and recording instruments.
The present book complements older manuals in that both analog and
digital records are considered. Seismograms from more traditional narrow-
band as well as from modern broad-band instruments are displayed. Tectonic
and volcanic earthquakes are represented and the exhibited seismograms form
a world-wide collection of records acquired from seismographic stations
located in North and Central America, Asia, Europe and New Zealand, i.e.,
in various geological and tectonic environments. Terminology and usage of
definition does vary among agencies in different parts of the world; that used
in this book is common in Europe.
The present publication arose as a joint IASPEI/Unesco venture. Both
bodies have shared an interest in editing a new comprehensive manual on
seismogram interpretation. Discussions concerning the manual had already
started at the London, Ontario, IASPEI Assembly in 1981. However, the first
definite steps to tackle the problems were only made at the Tokyo IASPEI
Assembly in 1985. During this meeting, a IASPEI/Unesco Working Group
(WG) on Manual of Seismogram Interpretation was established. Two business
meetings were held and specified the general requirements of the manual.
Initially, the WG consisted of G.L. Choy, V.I. Gorbunova, M. Hashizume
(Unesco representative), O. Kulhanek (chairman), D. Mayer-Rosa, L.
Ruprechtova, M.E. Reyners, D. Seidl, R.A. Uhrhammer and M. Yamamoto.
The first selection of material to be included in the manual was made at the
subsequent EGS/ESC Assembly in Kiel, FRG, in 1986. G. Payo became a
new member of the WG while R.E. Reyners resigned. The final lay-out and
definite selection of seismograms were considered at several business
meetings of the WG during the IUGG General Assembly in Vancouver,
1987.
This manual would not have been written without the support, continuous
interest and encouragement of Unesco. Invaluable indeed are the seismogram
