active volcano

Earthquake Aftershock Studies

Large aftershocks pose a substantial hazard to populated areas. Sometimes they can cause more damage, injury and fatalities than the main shock. Therefore, the prediction and study of aftershock impact, especially in urban areas is important. The main purpose of the aftershock survey is to obtain accurate hypo-central locations so the size and orientation of the fault plane that ruptured in the earthquake can be determined.

It is critical to an aftershock study to deploy as many simultaneously recording stations as possible within a 24- to 48-hour period. Recording stations may operate for a few weeks – even up to several months, depending on the aftershock sequence activity. In order to obtain quality seismic data from the main event(s) and aftershocks, a substantial field effort is required.