Earthquake-explosion discrimination using waveform cross-correlation technique for mines in southeast of Tehran

Abstract

The presence of man-made explosions in a seismic catalogue leads to errors in statistical analyses of seismicity. Recently, the need to monitor man-made explosions used for mining, road excavating, and other constructional applications has been become a demanding challenge for the seismologists. In this way, we gain new insight into the cross-correlation technique and conduct this approach to discriminate explosions from seismic datasets. Following this, improved P-wave arrival times are used for more precise relocation. In this study, the waveform cross-correlation technique provides a reliable means for discriminating explosions which have cross-correlation coefficients (CC) of 0.6 or greater with their own corresponding stacked waveforms. The results illustrate that approximately 80 % of seismicity of southeast of Tehran, recorded by the Iranian Seismological Center (IRSC), includes events which have cross-correlation coefficients of ≥0.6 with their corresponding stacked waveforms. Furthermore, with improved P-wave arrival time, there is a better chance to relocate explosions precisely in the region under study.