Assessment of the Caucasus Seismological Network Effectiveness

Abstract

To solve multiple geological and geophysical problems, in particular, the forecast of strong earthquakes, seismic zoning, and earthquake-resistant engineering, it is necessary to have reliable data on the distribution of earthquake hypocenters in the study area. In turn, the completeness of data on distribution of earthquake hypocenters and the accuracy of their determination largely depends on effectiveness of the observational system. This article assesses the effectiveness of the Caucasian seismological network consisting of 258 stations. The effectiveness of the seismological network means network ability to record seismic events with minimal magnitudes at certain epicentral distances and to provide, depending on hypocentral location of an earthquake, determination of the main earthquake parameters (time in the source and coordinates of hypocenters) with minimal errors. Calculation of the minimum energy classes (threshold) for the seismological network shows that if all Caucasus stations would have magnification of 30 000, the network would confidently record earthquakes of the 9th energy class and higher, which corresponds to a magnitude of 2.8. The errors in determination of epicentral coordinates of earthquakes on latitude and longitude do not exceed 0.4 km in the center of the network, and 1.0 km in the network periphery. The values of errors in determining depths of earthquake sources by the seismological network do not exceed 1.0 km in its center, and 10 km in the entire Caucasus region.