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On the seismic wave attenuation at the bend of the Southeastern Carpathians

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Abstract

1-D models for the quality factor along a few profiles crossing the Vrancea region and the adjacent extra-Carpathian zone have been recently developed, to reconstruct the ground motion generated by weak-to-moderate crustal earthquakes of Vrancea. The retrieved Q-structures reveal a consistent pattern of high attenuation at the bend of the Southeastern Carpathians. We discuss this result in relation with the outcomes of several studies that analyze wave attenuation along travel paths crossing both crustal and upper mantle structures of the study region, to emphasize the contribution of the shallow structure to the observed attenuation pattern.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and recommendations which have helped to improve the paper.

Funding

The study was supported by the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation, Contract 31 N/2019, Project PN 19 08 01 02.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Earth Physics, P. O. Box MG-2, 12 Calugareni Str., RO-077125, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania

    Luminita Ardeleanu, Cristian Neagoe, Anca Otilia Placinta & Alina Coman

Authors
  1. Luminita Ardeleanu
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  2. Cristian Neagoe
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  3. Anca Otilia Placinta
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  4. Alina Coman
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Correspondence to Luminita Ardeleanu.

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Highlights

• 1-D (depth-dependent) Q-models estimated for various crustal wave paths reveal a consistent pattern of high attenuation in the area from the bend of the Southeastern Carpathians.

• The crustal Q-models point out the contribution of the shallow structures to the overall attenuation pattern in the region, and motivate future comprehensive investigations, by various approaches, on the crustal attenuation.

• The lateral variations of the quality factor in the crust should be adequately considered for realistic ground motion predictions, in the assessment of the seismic hazard.

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Ardeleanu, L., Neagoe, C., Placinta, A.O. et al. On the seismic wave attenuation at the bend of the Southeastern Carpathians. J Seismol 27, 233–240 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-022-10125-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-022-10125-5

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