Regional seismic velocity changes following the 2019 Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest, California earthquake from autocorrelations and P/S converted waves

We examine regional transient changes of seismic velocities generated by the 2019 M-w 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake in California, using autocorrelations of moving time windows in continuous waveforms recorded at regional stations. We focus on traveltime differences in a prominent phase generated by an interface around 2 km depth, associated with transmitted Pp waves and converted Ps waves from the ongoing microseismicity. Synthetic tests demonstrate the feasibility of the method for monitoring seismic velocity changes. Taking advantage of the numerous aftershocks in the early period following the main shock, we obtain a temporal resolution of velocity changes up to 20 min in the early post-main-shock period. The results reveal regional coseismic velocity drops in the top 1-3 km with an average value of similar to 2 per cent over distances up to 100 km from the Ridgecrest event. These average velocity drops are likely dominated by larger changes in the shallow materials and are followed by rapid recoveries on timescales of days. Around the north end of the Ridgecrest rupture and the nearby Coso geothermal region, the observed coseismic velocity drops are up to similar to 8 per cent. The method allows monitoring temporal changes of seismic velocities with high temporal resolution, fast computation and precise spatial mapping of changes. The results suggest that significant temporal changes of seismic velocities of shallow materials are commonly generated on a regional scale by large events.

Automated summary

The study uses autocorrelations and continuous waveform data to investigate the transient changes in seismic velocities caused by the Ridgecrest earthquake, revealing wide regional velocity drops concentrated at depths of 1-3 km. These drops are instantaneous but followed by rapid recoveries.