Temporal Variation of the Spectral Decay Parameter Kappa Detected before and after the 2016 Main Earthquakes of Central Italy

Abstract

We investigated the temporal variation of the spectral decay parameter κ before and after two main earthquakes that occurred in the central Italy region, namely the Amatrice (Mw 6.0) of 24 August 2016 and the Norcia (Mw 6.5) of 30 October 2016 earthquakes. For this analysis, we used seismograms from the central Italy dense seismic array stations, and earthquakes located at hypocenter distances r < 80 km, having magnitudes Mw 3.4–6.5. The dataset consists of 393 events recorded at 92 stations. We estimated, for both earthquake sequences, average functions κ˜(r) that describe the distance dependence of κ along the S-wave source-station paths using acceleration spectra from foreshocks, mainshock, and aftershocks. We observed that there was a regional attenuation drop within approximately two months after the Amatrice earthquake. Then, κ˜(r) tends to return toward the attenuation values observed before the occurrence of the main event, namely to the values of κ˜(r) obtained from the foreshocks, when the earthquake cycle is probably completed. We also estimated the near-source kappa (κs) using aftershocks from 24 August 2016 to 3 September 2016. The results show that the values of κs are lower than those from aftershocks located to the north near the epicenter of the Amatrice earthquake, suggesting that the tectonic stress was probably high near the rupture zone, and that there may be a likely fluid flow of crustal fluids. κ˜(r) obtained from the foreshocks of the Norcia earthquake is like that calculated with the records of the Amatrice aftershocks. Then, κ˜(r) drops to lower attenuation values during the Norcia main event and tends to increase again during the aftershocks. From the analysis of these two earthquake sequences that occurred in a short-time interval in central Italy, we conclude that the temporal variation of κ˜(r) could be a valuable indicator to monitor the earthquake cycle.