Applying a New Event Detection Algorithm to an Ocean Bottom Seismometer Dataset Recorded Offshore Southern California

Abstract:

A number of active southern California offshore faults are capable of M>6 earthquakes, and the only permanent Southern California Seismic Network stations that can contribute to ongoing, small-magnitude earthquake detection and location are those located on the coastline and islands. To obtain a more detailed picture of the seismicity of the region, an array of 34 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) was deployed to record continuous waveform data off the coast of Southern California for 12 months (2010-2011) as part of the ALBACORE (Asthenospheric and Lithospheric Broadband Architecture from the California Offshore Region Experiment) project. To obtain a local event catalog based on OBS data, we make use of a newly developed data processing platform based on Python. The data processing procedure comprises a multi-step analysis that starts with the identification of significant signals above the time-adjusted noise floor for each sensor. This is followed by a time-dependent statistical estimate of the likelihood of an earthquake based on the aggregated signals in the array. For periods with elevated event likelihood, an adaptive grid-fitting procedure is used that yields candidate earthquake hypocenters with confidence estimates that best match the observed sensor signals. The results are validated with synthetic travel times and manual picks. Using results from ALBACORE, we have created a more complete view of active faulting in the California Borderland.