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T-wave propagation from the Pacific to the Atlantic: The 2020 Mw7.4 Kermadec Trench earthquake case

Tiago C.A. Oliveira toliveira(at)ua.pt
Physics Department & Centre of Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal,
Ying-Tsong Lin, ytlin(at)whoi.edu
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
Noriyuki Kushida, noriyuki.kushida(at)ctbto.org
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test -Ban Treaty Organization, Vienna International Center, 1400 Vienna, Austria
Sérgio M. Jesus sjesus(at)ualg.pt
LarSys, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, PT-8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
and
Peter Nielsen peter.nielsen(at)ctbto.org
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test -Ban Treaty Organization, Vienna International Center, 1400 Vienna, Austria


Comments: download file (pdf)
Ref.: Journal of Acoustical Society of America Express Letters, Vol.1 (issue 12), December 2021.

Abstract:
An Mw7.4 submarine earthquake occurred in the Kermadec Trench, north-east of New Zealand, on 18 June, 2020. This powerful earthquake triggered energetic tertiary waves (T-waves) that propagated through the South Pacific Ocean into the South Atlantic Ocean, where the T-waves were recorded by a hydrophone station near Ascension Island, 15127 km away from the epicentre. Different T-wave arrivals were identified during the earthquake period with arrival angles deviating from the geodesic path. A three-dimensional sound propagation model has been utilized to investigate the cause of the deviation and confirm the horizontal diffraction of the T-waves at the Drake Passage.