Recalibration of the Magnitude Scales at Campi Flegrei, Italy, on the Basis of Measured Path and Site and Transfer Functions

Abstract

New duration-based local (ML) and moment (Mw) magnitude scales are obtained for the Campi Flegrei area through analysis of a dataset of local volcanotectonic earthquakes. First, the S-wave quality factor for the investigated area was experimentally calculated, and then the distance-correction curve, log A0(r), to be used in the Richter formula ML = log Amax − log A0(r), was numerically estimated by measuring the attenuation properties and, hence, propagating a synthetic S-wave packet in the earth medium. The local magnitude scale was normalized to fit the Richter formula that was valid for Southern California at a distance of 10 km. ML was estimated by synthesizing Wood–Anderson seismograms and measuring the maximum amplitude. For the same dataset, the moment magnitude was obtained from S-wave distance-corrected and site-corrected displacement spectra. Comparisons between local and moment magnitudes determined, along with the old duration magnitude (MD) routinely used at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia– Osservatorio Vesuviano, are presented and discussed. Moreover, the relationships between ML and Mw calculated for two reference sites are also derived.