3-D finite-difference simulation of seismic fault zone waves—Application to the fault zone structure of the Mozumi-Sukenobu fault, central Japan—

Abstract

Fault zone waves have the potential to be a powerful tool to reveal the fine structure of a fault zone down to the seismogenic depth. Seismic fault zone waves include head waves, trapped waves and direct body waves propagating in the fault zone. 3-D numerical simulation is necessary to interpret the waveforms in the presence of low-velocity zones with relatively complex fault structure. We computed finite difference (FD) synthetic seismograms to fit the seismograms of explosions, which contain frequencies up to 25 Hz, recorded by a linear seismometer array across the Mozumi-Sukenobu fault, central Japan. We find fault zone head waves, direct P waves propagating within the low-velocity zone and wave trains following the direct P waves associated with the fault for both observed and synthetic waveforms. Thus, modelling of fault zone waves is expected to determine details of complex fault zone structure.