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S E I S M O L O G I S T
ELECTRONIC SEISMOLOGIST
Institute of Geophysics
ETH Hoenggerberg
CH-8093, Zurich
Switzerland
Telephone +41 633 6625
stefan@seismo.ifg.ethz.ch
Steve Malone
E-mail: steve@geophys.washington.edu
Geophyics, Box 351650
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Telephone: (206) 685-3811
Fax: (206) 543-0489
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Introduction
Earthquake catalogs are probably the most fundamental
products of seismology and remain arguably the most useful
for tectonic studies. Modern seismograph networks can locate
up to 100,000 earthquakes annually, providing a continuous
and sometime overwhelming stream of data. ZMAP is a set of
tools driven by a graphical user interface (GUI), designed to
help seismologists analyze catalog data. ZMAP is primarily a
research tool suited to the evaluation of catalog quality and to
addressing specific hypotheses; however, it can also be useful
in routine network operations. Roughly 100 scientists worldwide have used the software at least occasionally. About 30
peer-reviewed publications have made use of ZMAP. A comprehensive listing of ZMAP features is given in Table 1.
ZMAP was first published in 1994 and has continued to
grow over the past seven years. Concurrent with this article,
we are releasing ZMAP v. 6, which contains numerous bug
fixes and a few new features, as well an updated manual.
This paper illustrates some of the various capabilities
and applications of ZMAP by summarizing a few case studies
that have been published previously. The examples include
(1) catalog quality assessment and data exploration; (2) mapping b values beneath a volcano to infer information about
the location of magma; (3) estimating seismicity rate changes
caused by a large earthquake; (4) stress-tensor inversion on a
grid to measure the heterogeneity of a stress field; and (5)
mapping the magnitude of complete reporting.
The Philosophy of ZMAP
Matlab-based, open-source code. ZMAP is written in
Mathworks (http://www.mathworks.com) commercial software language, Matlab, a package widely used among
researchers in the natural sciences. Users must purchase a
Matlab license to run ZMAP. Although ZMAP is written in
Matlab, no knowledge of the Matlab language is needed
since ZMAP is GUI-driven. The ZMAP code is, however,
open, and users are welcome to modify or supplement as
desired by diving into the guts of the numerous scripts
(about 80,000 lines of native code in 600 scripts). ZMAP
should run on all platforms supported by Matlab. We have
tested it under Unix, Linux, PC, DEC ALPHA, and Macintosh computers (Caveat: Some code, such as stress-tensor
inversions, requires the compilation of external FORTRAN
or C programs).
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TABLE 1
Comprehensive Listing of ZMAP Functions and Relevant References
Tool
Objective
Histograms
Data Import
Data import as ASCII, column-separated files, using one of several existing input format filters or a custom-designed one.
Catalog Comparison
Maps
GENAS
Declustering
(Reasenberg, 1985)
Mapping Seismicity Rates Map seismicity rates in map view, cross-section, or 3D. Animate maps of (Maeda and Wiemer, 1999; Wiemer and Wyss,
z and values as a function of time. Compute alarm cubes, explore 6D 1994; Wyss et al., 1996; Wyss et al., 1997a;
parameter space,
Wyss and Wiemer, 1997, 2000; Wyss and Martyrosian, 1998)
Aftershock Decay Rates
Estimate aftershock decay rates based on modified Omori law. Compute (Kisslinger and Jones, 1991; Reasenberg and
probabilistic aftershock hazard. Compute maps and cross-section of p Jones, 1989, 1990; Wiemer, 2000; Wiemer et
values and aftershock probabilities. Link to ASPAR software.
al., 2001)
Frequency-magnitude Dis- Estimating a and b values and uncertainties using maximum likelihood (Wiemer and Benoit, 1996; Wiemer and
tribution
or weighted least squares as a function of depth, time, and magnitude. McNutt, 1997; Wiemer and Wyss, 1997; Wyss
Map b and a values in map view, cross-section, or 3D. Compute local et al., 1997b)
recurrence time maps. Differential b value maps for two periods. Create
synthetic catalog with constant b.
Magnitude of Completeness
Estimate magnitude of completeness based on the deviation of the FMD (Wiemer and Wyss, 2000)
from a power law. Analyze Mc as a function of time or depth. Map Mc in
map view or cross-section.
Fractal Dimension
Quarry Maps
Compute and map out the daytime to nighttime ratio of events in order to (Wiemer and Baer, 2000)
identify explosion. Dequarry catalogs by removing daytime events at significantly anomalous nodes.
Time to Failure
Stress Tensor
Inversion for the best fitting stress tensor using Michaels or Gepharts External call, requires compilation of FORTRAN
approach. Uncertainty estimation. Maps/cross-sections of stress orien- and C code. (Gephart, 1990a; Michael, 1984;
tation and variance/heterogeneity of the stress field. Maps of the tempo- Wiemer et al., 2001)
ral change in the stress field.
Cumulative Misfit
Compute the cumulative misfit to a predefined stress tensor. Cumulative External call, requires compilation of FORTRAN
misfit as a function of time, depth, magnitude, lat, lon, or in map view or and C code. (Lu et al., 1997; Wyss and Lu,
cross-section.
1995)
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Figure 1. Snapshots of some ZMAP windows. The upper left frame shows the cumulative number of events (0 < M<1.2; thick line) for the creeping
section of the San Andreas Fault north of Parkfield. The thin line is the z value, which measures the significance of a seismicity rate change. Note the
decrease in rate around 1995. The lower left shows catalog completeness, Mc, as a function of time, computed for overlapping windows each containing
1,000 earthquakes. The upper right shows the annual rate of earthquakes as a function of magnitude. Rates are computed based on the periods 19901995
(o) and 19952000 (x). Note the decrease in the detection ability for M < 1.2 after 1995. The top frame is the cumulative, the middle frame the noncumulative form. The bottom frame shows the magnitude signature. The lower right window plots a histogram of hypocentral depth.
Interactive data exploration. ZMAP combines many standard and advanced seismological analysis tools, aspiring to
make data exploration easier and more efficient. The user
can quickly select subsets in space, time, and magnitude,
plot histograms, compute b or p values, compare the frequency-magnitude distributions of different time periods
and locations, compare daytime versus nighttime activity,
compute the fractal dimension of hypocenters, create crosssections, overlay topography, compute stress-tensor inversions, and much more (Table 1). The ability to apply and
combine these analysis tools within one software platform
helps users explore or mine their data in detail. A typical
snapshot of some ZMAP windows is shown in Figure 1.
Mapping seismicity parameters. Identifying and evaluating
spatial and temporal variations in seismicity is one of the primary research objectives of ZMAP. By creating dense spatial
grids and sampling overlapping volumes of circular (2D) or
spherical shape (3D), users can map such parameters as seismicity rate changes, b values, p values, stress-tensor orienta376
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1
2
Depth [km]
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0.5
1
b-value
1.5
Distance [km]
Figure 2. (A) The b value as a function of depth at Mount St. Helens. The seismicity for the period 19871995 with M > 0.3 was analyzed, using a
sliding window of 100 earthquakes. Vertical bars indicate the uncertainty in b, horizontal bars the depth range sampled. (B) Cross-sectional view (northsouth) through Mount St. Helens. Crosses mark the locations of nodes of an interactively selected grid (spaced at 0.2 0.2 km) used to compute the bvalue image shown in (C). For selected nodes, the circles mark the volumes sampled, each containing N = 100 earthquakes. (C) Image of the b-value distribution underneath Mount St. Helens, computed using the grid shown in (B). Dark colors indicate low b values.
Sample Applications
The sample applications shown below are intended to illustrate some of the capabilities of ZMAP. The images shown
were all created with ZMAP, edited manually using the Matlab edit capabilities, and then imported as JPEG files or
Windows metafiles into PowerPoint to be arranged on a
page. The online help (http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/staff/stefan/) discusses in detail how each analysis was performed.
Each case study is taken from published work that discusses
the science and interpretation in detail.
Assessing Catalog Homogeneity and Interactive Data
Exploration
ZMAP can be used to investigate or monitor the reporting
history and health of a seismic network. The user can address
questions such as: Did the detection threshold change in a
particular area at a certain time? Did the meaning of magnitude change? A long list of man-made changes in earthquake
catalogs has by now been documented (Habermann, 1983,
1986, 1987, 1991; Wyss and Toya, 2000; Zuiga and
Wiemer, 1999; Zuiga and Wyss, 1995). These changes in
the reporting rate can be introduced by modifications to the
network and can either mask or mimic natural changes in
the seismicity. Using GENAS (investigation of rate changes
as a function of magnitude threshold), magnitude signa-
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Plate 1. (A) Left: Cross-section view through Mount St. Helens, overlain by topography. The orientation of the cross-section is shown in the inset at
lower left. Hypocenters are color-coded by depth; symbol size indicates magnitude. Right: Three-dimensional image of the b values beneath Mount St.
Helens, based on the seismicity from 19871995. Red colors indicate high b values. Horizontal planes are drawn at 8 and 3 km depths. (B) Perspective
view of southern California, centered on the Landers region. Colors map the change in the seismicity rate between the periods 19851992.48 and 1992.5
1999.7. Red colors, or negative z values, indicate an increase in the seismicity rate in the latter periods and vice versa. Triangles mark the epicenters of
the Landers, Big Bear, and Hector Mine main shocks. (C) Map of southern California, centered on the Landers region. Bars indicate the orientation of the
stress field obtained by inverting the 100 focal mechanisms nearest to each node of a grid spaced 2 2 km. The period investigated is 19922000. Stars
mark the hypocenters of the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine main shocks. The variance of the individual stress tensor inversions is color-coded, with
blue to purple colors indicating high variance, hence a heterogeneous stress field. The two insets show individual stress-tensor inversions and their
uncertainties, obtained using a bootstrap method (yellow: 1; red: 2; blue: 3). (D) Map of the western U.S.; the magnitude of complete reporting, Mc,
computed by measuring the deviation from an assumed power law, is color-coed. The inset shows the frequency-magnitude plots for two subvolumes
marked A and B.
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Hector Mine
Big Bear
N
Rate
decrease
Landers
Z-value
Rate
increase
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1000
p = 1.4e010
900
800
Cumulative Number
Cumulative Number
10 2
b = 0.77 0.17
10 1
500
400
200
0.5
1.5
2.5
100
Magnitude
Figure 3. Comparison of the cumulative frequency-magnitude distribution for shallow earthquakes at Mount St. Helens (filled circles) and for
the depth range 23 km (open squares). The probability that the two samples come from the same population is about 1.410, based on Utsus
(1992) test.
380
600
300
700
0
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
Time in years
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KNOWN PROBLEMS
From the responses from the 100+ scientists using ZMAP, it
is clear that, although designed to work on any Matlab-supported platform, some users experience problems while running various functions. Others become frustrated with the
variable robustness of certain features of ZMAP and the
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Matt Gerstenberger, Steve
Malone, Charlotte Rowe, and Max Wyss for comments and
suggestions that greatly helped to improve the manuscript. I
am deeply indebted to all those who helped through their
programming to make ZMAP a better tool: Alexander Allman, Denise Bachmann, Matt Gerstenberger, Zhong Lu,
Francesco Pacchiani, Yuzo Toda, and Ramon Zuiga. Special
thanks to Max Wyss, whose relentless support and creative
ideas over the past eight years has made ZMAP possible. The
support from an IASPEI PC software development grant has
been a great motivation. I am thankful to the University of
Alaska Fairbanks, the Science and Technology Agency of
Japan, and ETH Zurich for supporting the development of
ZMAP.
REFERENCES
Bender, B. and D. M. Perkins (1987). SEISRISK III: A computer program for seismic hazard estimation, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1772, 20 pp.
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SRL encourages guest columnists to contribute to the Electronic Seismologist. Please contact Steve Malone with your
ideas. His e-mail address is steve@geophys.washington.edu.
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