Centroid moment tensor catalogue for Indonesia

Abstract

We developed a centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalogue of earthquakes in and around Indonesia (InaCMT) using data from the nationwide broadband seismograph network in Indonesia. We obtained CMT solutions for about 500 earthquakes that occurred in and around Indonesia between 2006 and 2009. The moment magnitudes ranged from 4.5 to 8.3. We examined the accuracy of the CMT solutions of the InaCMT catalogue by comparing them with those obtained by the Global CMT (GCMT) Project. The seismic moments and focal mechanisms of these catalogues were highly consistent with each other, but we found systematic differences between the catalogues in the source centroid locations of earthquakes off Sumatra. The InaCMT source centroid locations were closer to the hypocenter locations in the Preliminary Determination of Earthquakes (PDE) of the U.S. Geological Survey compared to those of GCMT. The systematic deviations in the GCMT source centroid locations may mainly reflect insufficient azimuthal coverage of the stations used for the inversions as well as uncertainties in the Earth model. Using the InaCMT catalogue, we investigated seismic activity related to the off Bengkulu seismic sequence on 12 September 2007 ( M w = 8.3, 7.9, and 6.8), southwest of Sumatra, and the earthquakes northwest of the island of New Guinea on 3 January 2009 ( M w = 7.7 and 7.4). In the aftershock activity of the 2007 off Bengkulu seismic sequence, we found that shallow earthquakes were aligned along the eastern coast of Siberut Island, located between the Sunda trench and Sumatra. These earthquakes may have occurred along the Mentawai fault or another unknown fault. The focal mechanisms of the earthquakes were dominantly reverse slip, although the Mentawai fault has been considered to be a strike-slip fault. Shallow large earthquakes along this fault may cause damage above the source region and generate large tsunamis. We found that the 2009 earthquakes northwest of New Guinea occurred along the Manokwari trough and that the aftershocks were aligned along a plane dipping about 30° to the south, indicating that the Pacific and/or Philippine Sea plate subducts below the Australian plate at the Manokwari trough. The InaCMT catalogue enables us to perform detailed analyses of seismic activity in and around Indonesia, which contributes to better understanding of tectonic features and potential seismic and tsunami hazards in Indonesia as well as the coastal regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.