Discrete wave-number representation of seismic-source wave fields

Abstract A method based on a discrete horizontal wave-number representation of seismic-source wave fields is developed and applied to the study of the near-field of a seismic source embedded in a layered medium. The discretization results from a periodicity assumption in the description of the source. The problem is basically two-dimensional but its extension to three dimensions is sometimes feasible. The source is quite general and is represented through its body-force equivalents. Tests of the accuracy of the method are made against Garvin's (1956) analytical solution (a buried line source in a half-space) and against Niazy's (1973) results for a propagating fault in an infinite medium. In both cases, a remarkably good agreement is found. The method is applied to the modeling of the San Fernando earthquake, and to the computation of synthetic seismograms at short distance from a complex source in a layered medium. In particular, we show that the high acceleration-high frequency phase of the Pacoima Dam records is due to the Rayleigh wave from the point of ground breakage. Other high-acceleration phases, predicted by our model, are associated with the shear-wave arrival from the hypocenter or result from changes in the fault orientation.