Seismic characteristics of the 15 February 2013 bolide explosion in Chelyabinsk, Russia

Abstract

The seismological characteristics of the 15 February 2013 Chelyabinsk bolide explosion are investigated based on seismograms recorded at 50 stations with epicentral distances ranging from 229 to 4324 km. By using 8–25 s vertical-component Rayleigh waveforms, we obtain a surface-wave magnitude of 4.17±0.31 for this event. According to the relationship among the Rayleigh-wave magnitude, burst height and explosive yield, the explosion yield is estimated to be 686 kt. Using a single-force source to fit the observed Rayleigh waveforms, we obtain a single force of 1.03×1012 N, which is equivalent to the impact from the shock wave generated by the bolide explosion.

Keywords

• rayleigh-wave magnitude
• yield estimation
• focal mechanism
• the 15 february 2013 chelyabinsk bolide