Rapid Estimation of Earthquake Magnitude using GNSS Data

Abstract

Earthquake parameters such as the hypocenter location and the magnitude size are important in the development of reliable Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) and Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS). The Global Navigation Satellitte System (GNSS) data have been used to estimate the earthquake parameters rapidly over the last 15 years. In this study, we present the result and analysis of the scaling properties of Peak Ground Displacement (PGD) as measured by high-rate (sampled at 1 Hz or higher) GPS recordings from Lombok earthquake on August 05^th, 2018. The earthquake magnitude from the kinematic solution of CMAT GNSS station is equal to Mw 6.8. This value is achieved between 15 - 20 seconds after the origin time of the earthquake. Our result shows that the displacements from kinematic GNSS data can be used to rapidly determine the earthquake magnitude, typically within the first minute of rupture initiation. Rapid earthquake magnitude determination will be very useful to support EEW and TEWS.