In this paper, a method to determine the magnitude of deep-focus earthquakes in and near Japan from the observation data of Japan Meteorological Agency is proposed.
The relation between the maximum amplitude of earthquake motion (mainly
S waves) at a certain epicentral distance and the depth of the earthquake origins is approximately expressed by log
10A=
C-Σ
Cn(
H/
R)
n where
A is the amplitude,
R is the radius of the earth,
H is the depth of the origin,
C=
M-C
0 (
M means the magnitude), and each
Cn is a certain constant.
From the above equation, the magnitude is determined by
M=log
10A+
K where
K=
C0+Σ
Cn(
H/
R)
n.
For the sake of convenience, the
Ks for several distances and depths are given in a table.
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