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Multi-Event Explosive Seismic Source for the 2022 Mw 6.3 Hunga Tonga Submarine Volcanic Eruption

Journal Article · · The Seismic Record
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1785/0320220027· OSTI ID:1897451
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
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The eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano on 15 January 2022 produced a variety of geophysical responses, including a significant seismic signal. We study the seismic source process of this event by inverting for moment tensors (MTs) using regional surface waves (Rayleigh, Love). By comparing inversion results for the eruption with eight nearby earthquakes, we show that it is possible to discriminate MT source types. Our inversion yields a shallow explosive source for the eruption and reveals the importance of trade-offs among depth, magnitude, and source type. We illustrate these trade-offs by representing the misfit variations over the eigenvalue lune. Finally, we invert for the source-time function of the sequence of explosions that occurred in the first minutes of the eruption. The multi-event source-time function comprises four subevents spanning ~270 s, with a total magnitude estimate of Mw 6.34 ± 0.10.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1897451
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-22-29916
Journal Information:
The Seismic Record, Journal Name: The Seismic Record Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 2; ISSN 2694-4006
Publisher:
Seismological Society of AmericaCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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