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.

The Seismic Signatures of Recently Formed Impact Craters on Mars

“…This would require larger bolide masses to produce the same sized impact crater, since we examine the momentum associated with a particular crater size, there is a direct trade between bolide velocity and mass. Atmospheric signals from bolides striking the Earth are distinct and observed on global networks of acoustically sensitive infrasound instruments, as well as seismometers (Hedlin et al, 2018;Wei et al, 2018). It is expected that InSight will detect similar signals, and there are multiple approaches that have been presented to characterize the acoustic signature of bolide breakup in the atmosphere (Collins et al, 2017;Daubar et al, 2018;Ivanov et al, 2009;Karakostas et al, 2018;Popova et al, 2007;Stevanovic et al, 2017;Williams et al, 2014).…”