Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of <i>b</i> values revealed by a data-driven approach for the 17 June 2019 <i>M</i>_S 6.0 Changning earthquake sequence, Sichuan, China

Abstract

The spatiotemporal heterogeneity of b values has great potential for helping in understanding the seismogenic process and assessing seismic hazard. However, there is still much controversy about whether it exists or not, and an important reason is that the choice of subjective parameters has eroded the foundations of much research. To overcome this problem, we used a recently developed non-parametric method based on a data-driven concept to calculate b values. The major steps of this method include (1) performing a large number of Voronoi tessellations and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) value calculation, selecting the optimal models for the study area, and (2) using the ensemble median (Q2) and median absolute deviation (MAD) value to represent the final b value and its uncertainty. We investigated spatiotemporal variations in b values before and after the 2019 Changning MS=6.0 earthquake in the Sichuan Basin, China. The results reveal a spatial volume with low pre-mainshock b values near the mainshock source region, and its size corresponds roughly with the rupture area of the mainshock. The anomalously high pre-mainshock b values distributed in the NW direction of the epicenter were interpreted to be related to fluid invasion. The decreases in b values during the aftershock sequence along with the occurrences of several strong aftershocks imply that b values could be an indicator of the stress state. In addition, we found that although the distribution characteristics of b values obtained from different methods of investigation are qualitatively consistent, they differ significantly in terms of their specific values, suggesting that the best way to study the heterogeneous pattern of b values is in the joint dimension of space-time rather than separately in time and space. Overall, our study emphasizes the importance of b-value studies in assessing earthquake hazards.