SPECTRAL P-WAVE MAGNITUDES, MAGNITUDE SPECTRA AND OTHER SOURCE PARAMETERS FOR THE 1990 SOUTHERN SUDAN AND THE 2005 LAKE TANGANYIKA EARTHQUAKES

Abstract

Abstract Teleseismic Broadband seismograms of P-waves from the May 1990 southern Sudan and the December, 2005 Lake Tanganyika earthquakes; the western branch of the East African Rift System at different azimuths have been investigated on the basis of magnitude spectra. The two earthquakes are the largest shocks in the East African Rift System and its extension in southern Sudan. Focal mechanism solutions along with geological evidences suggest that the first event represents a complex style of the deformation at the intersection of the northern branch of the western branch of the East African Rift and Aswa Shear Zone while the second one represents the current tensional stress on the East African Rift. The maximum average spectral magnitude for the first event is determined to be 6.79 at 4 s period compared to 6.33 at 4 s period for the second event. The other source parameters for the two earthquakes were also estimated. The first event had a seismic moment over fourth that of the second one. The two events are radiated from patches of faults having radii of 13.05 and 7.85 km, respectively. The average displacement and stress drop are estimated to be 0.56 m and 1.65 MPa for the first event and 0.43 m and 2.20 MPa for the second one. The source parameters that describe inhomogeneity of the fault are also determined from the magnitude spectra. These additional parameters are complexity, asperity radius, displacements across the asperity and ambient stress drop. Both events produce moderate rupture complexity. Compared to the second event, the first event is characterized by relatively higher complexity, a low average stress drop and a high ambient stress. A reasonable explanation for the variations in these parameters may suggest variation in the strength of the seismogenic fault which provides the relations between the different source parameters. The values of stress drops and the ambient stresses estimated for both events indicate that these earthquakes are of interplate type.