PAGEOPH, Vol. 120 ( 1 9 8 2 ) 0033-4553/82/030577-06501.50+0.

20/0
9 1982 Birkh/iuser Verlag, Basel

Influence of Focal Mechanism on Shape of Isoseismals: Irpinia

Earthquake of November 23, 19801 )

By G. F. PANZA and M. CUSCITO 2)

A b s t r a c t - With the use of complete synthetic seismograms for the SH component of motion we have
constructed theoretical isoseismals. We have assumed a double-couple point source as determined from first
arrivals of P waves. Lateral heterogeneities around the source were also considered. In fact, the crustal part
of the model used to compute synthetic seismograms to the west of the Bradano foretrough was
significantly different from the one used to synthesize seismograms to the east of the foretrough, Even with
such a simple approach, the comparison between theoretical and experimental data is surprisingly good,
indicating that the isoseismals' elongation, parallel to the Apennines, depends mainly upon the fault
orientation, while the effect of local structures introduces relatively small perturbations in the radiation
pattern.

Key words: Synthetic seismograms; Irpinia Earthquake of November 23, 1980; Isoseismals; Focal
mechanism.

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n

The quantitative interpretation o f ground motion during an earthquake and related

intensity effects represents one o f the m o s t challenging tasks o f m o d e r n seismology, A
very difficult problem is the separation o f the effects due to the source geometry from
those introduced by lateral variations in the elastic and anelastic properties o f the
material surrounding the seismic source.
F o r shallow sources, surface waves dominate the ground motion at moderate
distances - tens o f kilometers - and at periods greater than 1 or 2 s (HANKS, 1975;
HER_MANN, 1977; HERMANN and NUTTLI, 1975a, b; KAWASAKI, 1978; TRIFUNAC,
1971). With this in mind, we felt it natural to attempt to reproduce the gross isoseismal
features using a method based on the radiation pattern in time domain (synthetic
seismograms at varying distances and azimuths) computed with mode summation.
In this paper we present results o f our first attempt to use complete synthetic
seismograms, up to a m a x i m u m frequency o f 0.1 Hz, for the construction of theoretical
isoseismals. This attempt is based upon the azimuthal distribution of the m a x i m u m dis-
placement obtained from the sum o f all torsional modes existing in the frequency band
considered. W e have neglected the contribution o f spheroidal waves to the azimuthal

') Publication n. 198 Istituto di Geodesia e Geofisica-Trieste.

~iIstituto di Geodesia e Geofisica, Universit~tdi Trieste, 1-34100 Trieste, Italy.
578 G.F. Panza and M. Cuscito PAGEOPH,

component of motion since this contribution is about two orders of magnitude less than
the one associated with torsional waves.
The main purpose of this paper is to present an application of synthetic seismograms
to the reconstruction of isoseismals lines. This approach can be used in the attempt to
understand the shape of isoseismals as the combination of source geometry, and
regional and local structural effects. In this paper we propose a very schematic way to
isolate large, local structural effects, assuming the source geometry and the average
structural properties of the region are known.

2. M e t h o d

All the necessary theoretical background for the computation of complete synthetic
seismograms is described by NAKA~SHI et al (1977), MANa'OVANI et al. (1977), and
LIAO et al. (1978). In this preliminary study we have modelled lateral heterogeneities by
considering two different structural models (see Table 1). The line separating the two
models is located to the west of the Bradano foretrough (see Fig. 1). This rather simple

Table 1
Structural models used in the computation of theoretical seismograms. Model I has been used to determine
maximum displacements to the East of the Bradano foretrough, while model 2 has been used to the
West of it (see also Fig. 1). B 1 and B 2 are phase velocity and phase attenuation for shear wave velocities
(Schwab and Knopoff, 1972)

Layer thickness ( k m ) Density (g/cm a) Bl (km/s) B2 (10-3 s/kin)

Model 1
1 2.2 2.0 0.4
17 2.6 3.2 0.4
10 2.9 3.6 0.4
6 3.0 3.9 0.4
60 3.4 4,65 1.15
180 3.4 4,2 1.0
50 3.6 4.8 1.15
100 3.75 5.1 1.1
200 4.0 5.3 0.4
oo 4.45 6,2 0.4
Model 2
5 2.2 2.0 0.4
13 2.6 3.15 0.4
10 2.9 3.6 0.4
6 3.0 3.9 0.4
60 3.4 4.65 1.15
180 3.4 4.2 1.0
50 3.6 4.8 1.15
100 3.75 5.1 1.1
200 4.0 5.3 0.4
4.45 6.2 0.4
Vol. 120, ! 982 Influence of Focal Mechanism 5 79

CE

! 1

Fig. 1
Set of theoretical isoseismals corresponding to different maximum amplitudes determined from the
SH-componentof motion of the theoretical seismogramsand fault plane solution used for the computation.
The thick dashed line indicates the seoaration between model 1 and model 2, used in the computation.
White quadrants indicate dilatations, black quadrants indicate compressions. AV = Avellino, BN =
Benevento, PZ = Potenza, SA = Salerno.

model of lateral heterogeneity is fully justified by the properties of the lithosphere-

asthenosphere system described by CALCAGr~ILE and PANZA (1979, 1980, 1981). The
model of the source that we have used, shown in Fig. 1, is the one given by the GauPpo
DI LAVORO SIS~OMETZ~A TERREMOTO 23.11.80 (1981), i.e. h = 18 km (focal depth),
5 = 69 ~ (dip), v~ = 294 ~ (fault azimuth), 2 = 277 ~ (slip). This set of values corresponds
to fault plane A shown in Fig. 1. To construct the theoretical isoseismals we have
computed theoretical seismograms for epicentral distances ranging from 25 km to
150 km, every 20 ~ of azimuth around the epicenter.
With these data we laave constructed the theoretical isoseismals shown in Fig. 1 by
connecting points with equal maximum displacement. The comparison of our theoretical
curves with the distribution of the observed intensity values (PosTPISCr{L, 1981), from
which it has been constructed the map shown in Fig. 2, is very striking. Several features
can be observed: (1) the shift toward north of the instrumental epicenter compared with
the center of gravity of the isoseismals (macroseismic epicenter); (2) the elongation
along the axis of the Apennines; (3) the presence of minima in the radiation pattern in a
direction perpendicular to the fault plane A.
All these features are easily explained as the combination of structural and source
effects. Namely, the shift existing between the instrumental epicenter and the
isoseismals' center of gravity reflects the structural difference existing in the lithosphere
on the two sides of the Bradano foretrough; the isoseismals elongation along the axis of
the Apennines is almost totally associated with the source geometry, while the trend of
580 G.F. Panza and M. Cuscito PAGEOPH,

///~ .[~q Vt
CE
4foo ~
VI
/]

S r/~)
v:\
ISOSEISMAL$ 1 VI

14"3(/ 1 t~30' !

Fig. 2
Isoseismals for the Irpinia earthquake derived after Postpischl (198i). E. hldicates the instrumental
epicenter.

the chain has no effect on radiation pattern. Finally, the minima in the direction
perpendicular to the fault can also be explained in terms of source geometry.
Since the definition of a quantitative relation between macroseismic intensity and
maximum displacement requires the use of instrumental data, the criterion followed
in the comparison has been to match qualitatively the areas enclosed by theoretical and
experimental isoseismals. Figure 3 was constructed using this criterion; the effect of
local structure is evident. In fact the significant discrepancies between experimental and
theoretical curves in the northern part may be the effect of local structures. For instance
the presence of Picentini Mountains seems fo be responsible for the main difference
between theory and experiment at intensity VIII. Opposite to the effect introduced by
the Picentini Mountains, is that introduced by the sedimentary basin located southeast
of Naples. This can be seen from the comparison between theory and experiment at
intensity VII. Finally, we observe that the discrepancies indicated by shaded areas may
be partly due to the assumption of a point source. In fact, the consideration of a source
of finite dimensions will probably have as its main effect the disappearance of the nodal
features, clearly visible on Fig. 1, with a subsequent drastic reduction of the shaded
areas in Fig. 3. A further reduction of the shaded areas in Fig. 3 could derive from the
radial c0mponent of motion, associated with spheroidal waves. The analysis of more
complex sources, and of more detailed lateral heterogeneities, will require the use of
instrumental data (e.g. accelerograms), and will be the subject of forthcoming papers. In
these papers we will also extend the analysis to higher frequencies, to get a closer
connection between our theoretical models and the distribution of building damage.
3. Conclusion
We have constructed theoretical isoseismals for the November 23, 1980, Irpinia
earthquake, using complete theoretical seismograms for the SH-component of motion,
Vol. 120, 1982 Influence of Focal Mechanism 5 81

.oE ........ "

..... ,,, ~,.. "- .~ ........ ..

<

Fig. 3
Comparison between theoretical shape and isoseismals of intensities VII and VIII. Discrepancies indicated
by shaded areas may be partly due to the assumption of a single point source, while the other main
discrepancies may reflect local effects, PM = Picentini Mountains.

as generated by a point source. A remarkable agreement is obtained between the shape

of experimental and theoretical data. The improvement with respect to the results
obtainable with frequency domain computation of radiation pattern is really significant.
In fact, in the time domain we can model wave propagation in a way which is closer to
the real physical process than the models which can be constructed with single-mode
computations in the frequency domain. This is why the agreement obtained is not
surprising. In order to get such agreement no special assumptions concerning the elastic
and anelastic properties of the Apennines were necessary; instead, the elongation of the
isoseismals turns out to be a natural consequence of the fault orientation. Similar
conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the Friuli event of May 6, 1976 (PANZA
et aL, 1982). This is an important result, which indicates that the influence of source
geometry must be taken into account when analysing macroseismic data.
582 : G.F. Panza and M. Cuscito PAGEOPH

Acknowledgments

Part of this work was carried out with the financial help of Scuola Internazionale
Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Trieste (Miramar), which provided fellowship support for
M.C.

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(Received 31st March 1982)