The Mw 6.3, 2009 L’Aquila earthquake: source, path and site effects from spectral analysis of strong motion data

Abstract

The strong motion data of 2009 April 6 L’Aquila (Central Italy) earthquake (Mw = 6.3) and of 12 aftershocks (4.1 ≤ Mw ≤ 5.6) recorded by 56 stations of the Italian strong motion network are spectrally analysed to estimate the source parameters, the seismic attenuation, and the site amplification effects. The obtained source spectra for S wave have stress drop values ranging from 2.4 to 16.8 MPa, being the stress drop of the main shock equal to 9.2 MPa. The spectral curves describing the attenuation with distance show the presence of shoulders and bumps, mainly around 50 and 150 km, as consequence of significant reflected and refracted arrivals from crustal interfaces. The attenuation in the first 50 km is well described by a quality factor equal to Q( f ) = 59 f 0.56 obtained by fixing the geometrical spreading exponent to 1. Finally, the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio provides unreliable estimates of local site effects for those stations showing large amplifications over the vertical component of motion.