Laboratory Insight Into Seismic Estimates of Energy Partitioning During Dynamic Rupture: An Observable Scaling Breakdown

Abstract

We investigate energy partitioning using seismological methods of seismic ruptures with estimated submicron levels of slip in the laboratory. Estimates inferred from recorded seismic waves are founded on microscale phenomenological friction experiments in the laboratory and appear to be constrained by inherent assumptions. In this concerted study, we build on the methods used to absolutely calibrate an array of piezoelectric transducers in a direct shear laboratory apparatus. We found that flat-broadband sensor behavior allowed us to study source extent parameters using spectral source models that are typically used to interpret small to moderate-sized earthquakes. We computed the corner frequencies, low-frequency plateaus, and high-frequency spectral falloff exponent using single-station assumptions. Moment magnitude ranged from −9