Characterized source model of the M7.3 2016 Kumamoto earthquake by the 3D reciprocity GFs inversion with special reference to the velocity pulse at KMMH16

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes caused severe damage centering on the Mashiki residential area. The velocity waveforms at station KMMH16 in Mashiki, during the M 7.3 mainshock, show large pulses. We found that severe damage in Mashiki may be the result of the strong westward velocity pulse. The question raised is how the near-fault ground motions with strong velocity pulse at KMMH16 were generated during the mainshock. We focus on the characterized source model with Strong Motion Generation Areas (SMGA). Empirical Green’s function (EGF) method is widely used for source modeling in this case. However, in case that the target site is located just near the fault in nodal plane of source mechanism (like KMMH16), mechanism of the EGF event should perfectly fit mechanism of the mainshock, which is a rare case. Therefore, instead of using EGFs, we used theoretical 3D Green’s functions. Our approach is a nonlinear source inversion. This method requires calculation of waveforms and comparison with observations for many source models. To accelerate these calculations, we use pre-calculated GFs by the reciprocity method in the JIVSM velocity structure model. By comparison with aftershock records, we validated this structure for periods as short as 1.5 s. Target sites are limited to sites close to the fault: KMM005, KMM006, KMMH14, and KMMH16. First, we look for an initial SMGA source model by the grid search method applied to relatively long-period (> 3 s) waveforms and coarse grid of source parameters. Then, we tune that source model to fit observed short-period waveforms with the simplex search method. Necessary physical constraints for the range of the source parameters are applied here. The important point in our inversion scheme is to describe the Kostrov-like slip velocity functions inside each SMGAs by using two triangles. The resulting source model agrees well with other inversion results. We found that the observed westward pulse at KMMH16 is the result of the constructive interference of two pulses from SMGA1 and SMGA2, located in Hinagu fault and southwestern segment of Futagawa fault. Graphical Abstract