Teleseismic back-projection imaging has emerged as a powerful tool for understanding the rupture propagation of large earthquakes. However, its application often suffers from artifacts related to the receiver array geometry.
We developed a teleseismic back-projection technique that can accommodate data from multiple arrays. Combined processing of P and pP waveforms may further improve the resolution. The method is suitable for defining arrays ad-hoc to achieve a good azimuthal distribution for most earthquakes. We present a catalog of short-period rupture histories (0.5-2.0 Hz) for all earthquakes from 2010 to 2022 with Mw {greater than or equal to} 7.5 and depth less than 200 km (56 events). The method provides automatic estimates of rupture length, directivity, speed, and aspect ratio, a proxy for rupture complexity.
We obtained short-period rupture length scaling relations that are in good agreement with previously published relations based on estimates of total slip. Rupture speeds were consistently in the sub-Rayleigh regime for thrust and normal earthquakes, whereas a tenth of strike-slip events propagated at supershear speeds. Many rupture histories exhibited complex behaviors, e.g., rupture on conjugate faults, bilateral propagation, and dynamic triggering by a P wave. For megathrust earthquakes, ruptures encircling asperities were frequently observed, with down-dip, up-dip, and balanced patterns. Although there is a preference for short-period emissions to emanate from central and down-dip parts of the megathrust, emissions up-dip of the main asperity are more frequent than suggested by earlier results.
The data are presented as follows (and described in detail in the associated README):
SUPPORTING DATA SET S1 (2024-001_Vera-et-al_Supporting-Data-S1.zip)
This Data Set (S1) consists of *.bp files containing (1) short-period earthquake rupture patterns, (2) energy radiated maps, and (3) source time functions derived from back-projections (0.5-2.0 Hz). The Data Set S1 includes 56 folders, representing 56 processed earthquakes between 2010 and 2022 with a moment magnitude (Mw) greater than or equal to 7.5 and a depth less than 200 km. These folders are labeled in the format YYYYMMDDhhmm_EVENT_NAME_REGION (UTC) in *.bp format.
SUPPORTING DATA SET S2 (2024-001_Vera-et-al_Supporting-Data-S2.csv)
This Data Set (S2) comprises a *.csv file containing earthquake source information used in the back-projection and the resulting rupture parameter estimates based on **visually determined** rupture end times. The *.csv file includes rupture parameter estimates for each of the 56 earthquake back-projections presented in Data Set S1.
SUPPORTING DATA SET S3 (2024-001_Vera-et-al_Supporting-Data-S3.csv)
This Data Set (S3) comprises a *.csv file containing earthquake source information used in the back-projection and the resulting rupture parameter estimates based on **automatic** rupture end times. Note: The main difference from Data Set S2 is that rupture parameter estimates in S3 are derived from **automated** rupture end times, whereas S2 provided estimates relative to **visually determined** rupture end times.
This earthquake catalog was constructed using a combination of artificial intelligence and traditional methods for phase picking, phase association, and earthquake relocation. It covers the period from January 1, 2017, to February 5, 2023—one day prior to the Mw 7.8 earthquake that struck Türkiye.
The dataset includes three subsets:
1) Raw Catalog: Comprises 14,128 events obtained from the full association and relocation process, without filtering based on event type or location quality.
2) Earthquake Catalog: Comprises 5,721 tectonic events with well-constrained hypocenters (68% confidence ellipsoid semi-major axis < 8 km and depth < 15 km).
3) Anthropogenic Catalog: Comprises 1,695 human-induced events, primarily quarry blasts, also with well-constrained hypocenters (68% confidence ellipsoid semi-major axis < 8 km and depth < 15 km).