A Comparative Study of Results From Different Earthquake Location Procedures In California

Earthquake location using cross correlation derived relative arrival time measurements can lead to substantially reduced location errors and a view of fault-zone processes with unprecedented detail. Location improvements of one to two orders of magnitude have been realized in recent studies in various parts of the world, and across different tectonic regions. Different approaches are currently employed to apply these methods on a large scale in southern and northern California. We propose to compare, in collaboration with the respective researchers, results from these approaches in an area where the two seismic networks overlap, and examine the nature of the differences. This would benefit both relocation efforts in southern and northern California in their goal to obtain precise and consistent earthquake locations within and across the seismic networks. We will also investigate the degree of waveform similarity in different areas, to draw inferences about the scale length of structural heterogeneity and the complexity of seismic faulting.