Modelling and Simulation of the Propagation of P-SV Seismic Waves from Earthquakes: Application to Deep Earthquakes in Acre, Brazil

TL;DR

This paper models the propagation of P-SV seismic waves from deep earthquakes in Acre, Brazil, using PDEs and finite difference methods to simulate wave attenuation across geological layers.

Contribution

It introduces a two-dimensional PDE-based model for seismic wave propagation from deep earthquakes, validated with theoretical seismograms and wave images.

Findings

Simulated seismic wave attenuation in multiple geological layers

Generated theoretical seismograms matching expected wave displacements

Validated model with propagation of perfect seismic waves

Abstract

Brazil is located in the central-eastern portion of the South American Plate, meaning that the country mostly experiences low-intensity seismic activity within its territory. However, some geological faults in this region have generated intense earthquakes. In this context, we intend to describe a recent earthquake of magnitude around 6.5 M_b that occurred at a depth of approximately 600 km in the state of Acre, Brazil. In this work, we modeled the propagation of P-SV seismic waves using a two-dimensional system of partial differential equations (PDEs) in a two-dimensional vertical rectangular domain. The source is modeled by a Gaussian pulse function. The initial quiescence condition and Neumann boundary conditions are used. The PDE system is discretized by the finite difference method (FDM) and solved by the Gauss-Seidel method (GSM). The numerical simulations obtained describe the propagation of attenuated seismic waves in multiple geological layers, simulating intense and deep earthquakes in Acre. We used the propagation of perfect seismic waves to validate the model. The results include images of the simulations and theoretical seismograms simulating the vertical and horizontal displacement in the epicenter region and 200 km east and west of the epicenter.