The MW5.5 earthquake on August 6,2023,in Pingyuan,Shandong,China:A rupture on a buried fault

On August 6,2023,a magnitude MW5.5 earthquake struck Pingyuan County,Dezhou City,Shandong Province,China.This event was significant as no large earthquakes had been recorded in the region for over a century,and no active fault had been previously identified.This study collects 1309 P-wave arrival times and 866 S-wave arrival times from 74 seismic stations less than 200 km to the epicenter to constrain the spatial distribution of the mainshock and its 125 early aftershocks by the double difference earthquake relocation method,and selects 864 P-waveforms from 288 stations located within 800 km of the epicenter to constrain the focal mechanism solution of the mainshock through centroid moment tensor inversion.The relocation and the inversion indicate,the Pingyuan MW5.5 earthquake was caused by a rupture on a buried fault,likely an extensive segment of the Gaotang fault.This buried fault exhibited a dip of approximately 75°to the northwest,with a strike of 222°,similar to the Gaotang fault.The rupture initiated at the depth of 18.6 km and propagated upward and northeastward.However,the ground surface was not broken.The total duration of the rupture was~6.0 s,releasing the scalar moment of 2.5895×1017 N·m,equivalent to MW5.54.The moment rate reached the maximum only 1.4 seconds after the rupture initiation,and the 90%scalar moment was released in the first 4.6 s.In the first 1.4 seconds of the rupture process,the rupture velocity was estimated to be 2.6 km/s,slower than the local S-wave velocity.As the rupture neared its end,the rupture velocity decreased significantly.This study provides valuable insights into the seismic characteristics of the Pingyuan MW5.5 earthquake,shedding light on the previously unidentified buried fault responsible for the seismic activity in the region.Understanding the behavior of such faults is crucial for assessing seismic hazards and enhancing earthquake preparedness in the future.

Speed and surface steepness affect internal tibial loading during running

Background:Internal tibial loading is influenced by modifiable factors with implications for the risk of stress injury.Runners encounter varied surface steepness(gradients)when running outdoors and may adapt their speed according to the gradient.This study aimed to quantify tibial bending moments and stress at the anterior and posterior peripheries when running at different speeds on surfaces of different gradients.Methods:Twenty recreational runners ran on a treadmill at 3 different speeds(2.5 m/s,3.0 m/s,and 3.5 m/s)and gradients(level:0%;uphill:+5%,+10%,and+15%;downhill:-5%,-10%,and-15%).Force and marker data were collected synchronously throughout.Bending moments were estimated at the distal third centroid of the tibia about the medial-lateral axis by ensuring static equilibrium at each 1%of stance.Stress was derived from bending moments at the anterior and posterior peripheries by modeling the tibia as a hollow ellipse.Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance were conducted using both functional and discrete statistical analyses.Results:There were significant main effects for running speed and gradient on peak bending moments and peak anterior and posterior stress.Higher running speeds resulted in greater tibial loading.Running uphill at+10%and+15%resulted in greater tibial loading than level running.Running downhill at-10%and-15%resulted in reduced tibial loading compared to level running.There was no difference between+5%or-5%and level running.Conclusion:Running at faster speeds and uphill on gradients≥+10%increased internal tibial loading,whereas slower running and downhill running on gradients≥-10%reduced internal loading.Adapting running speed according to the gradient could be a protective mechanism,providing runners with a strategy to minimize the risk of tibial stress injuries.

Two-Stream Approximation to the Radiative Transfer Equation:A New Improvement and Comparative Accuracy with Existing Methods

Mathematical modeling of the interaction between solar radiation and the Earth's atmosphere is formalized by the radiative transfer equation(RTE), whose resolution calls for two-stream approximations among other methods. This paper proposes a new two-stream approximation of the RTE with the development of the phase function and the intensity into a third-order series of Legendre polynomials. This new approach, which adds one more term in the expression of the intensity and the phase function, allows in the conditions of a plane parallel atmosphere a new mathematical formulation of γparameters. It is then compared to the Eddington, Hemispheric Constant, Quadrature, Combined Delta Function and Modified Eddington, and second-order approximation methods with reference to the Discrete Ordinate(Disort) method(δ –128 streams), considered as the most precise. This work also determines the conversion function of the proposed New Method using the fundamental definition of two-stream approximation(F-TSA) developed in a previous work. Notably,New Method has generally better precision compared to the second-order approximation and Hemispheric Constant methods. Compared to the Quadrature and Eddington methods, New Method shows very good precision for wide domains of the zenith angle μ 0, but tends to deviate from the Disort method with the zenith angle, especially for high values of optical thickness. In spite of this divergence in reflectance for high values of optical thickness, very strong correlation with the Disort method(R ≈ 1) was obtained for most cases of optical thickness in this study. An analysis of the Legendre polynomial series for simple functions shows that the high precision is due to the fact that the approximated functions ameliorate the accuracy when the order of approximation increases, although it has been proven that there is a limit order depending on the function from which the precision is lost. This observation indicates that increasing the order of approximation of the phase function of the RTE leads to a better precision in flux calculations. However, this approach may be limited to a certain order that has not been studied in this paper.

The deterministic condition for the ground reaction force acting point on the combined knee valgus and tibial internal rotation moments in early phase of cutting maneuvers in female athletes

Background:Combined knee valgus and tibial internal rotation(VL+IR)moments have been shown to stress the anterior cruciate ligament(ACL)in several in vitro cadaveric studies.To utilize this knowledge for non-contact ACL injury prevention in sports,it is necessary to elucidate how the ground reaction force(GRF)acting point(center of pressure(CoP))in the stance foot produces combined knee VL+IR moments in risky maneuvers,such as cuttings.However,the effects of the GRF acting point on the development of the combined knee VL+IR moment in cutting are still unknown.Methods:We first established the deterministic mechanical condition that the CoP position relative to the tibial rotational axis differentiates the GRF vector’s directional probability for developing the combined knee VL+IR moment,and theoretically predicted that when the CoP is posterior to the tibial rotational axis,the GRF vector is more likely to produce the combined knee VL+IR moment than when the CoP is anterior to the tibial rotational axis.Then,we tested a stochastic aspect of our theory in a lab-controlled in vivo experiment.Fourteen females performed 60˚cutting under forefoot/rearfoot strike conditions(10 trials each).The positions of lower limb markers and GRF data were measured,and the knee moment due to GRF vector was calculated.The trials were divided into anterior-and posterior-CoP groups depending on the CoP position relative to the tibial rotational axis at each 10 ms interval from 0 to 100 ms after foot strike,and the occurrence rate of the combined knee VL+IR moment was compared between trial groups.Results:The posterior-CoP group showed significantly higher occurrence rates of the combined knee VL+IR moment(maximum of 82.8%)at every time point than those of the anterior-CoP trials,as theoretically predicted by the deterministic mechanical condition.Conclusion:The rearfoot strikes inducing the posterior CoP should be avoided to reduce the risk of non-contact ACL injury associated with the combined knee VL+IR stress.

Sensitivity Analysis of Electromagnetic Scattering from Dielectric Targets with Polynomial Chaos Expansion and Method of Moments

In this paper,an adaptive polynomial chaos expansion method(PCE)based on the method of moments(MoM)is proposed to construct surrogate models for electromagnetic scattering and further sensitivity analysis.The MoM is applied to accurately solve the electric field integral equation(EFIE)of electromagnetic scattering from homogeneous dielectric targets.Within the bistatic radar cross section(RCS)as the research object,the adaptive PCE algorithm is devoted to selecting the appropriate order to construct the multivariate surrogate model.The corresponding sensitivity results are given by the further derivative operation,which is compared with those of the finite difference method(FDM).Several examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for sensitivity analysis of electromagnetic scattering from homogeneous dielectric targets.

Implementing and evaluating an automatic centroid moment tensor procedure for the Indonesia region and surrounding areas

The purpose of this research was to suggest an applicable procedure for computing the centroid moment tensor(CMT)automatically and in real time from earthquakes that occur in Indonesia and the surrounding areas.Gisola software was used to estimate the CMT solution by selecting the velocity model that best suited the local and regional geological conditions in Indonesia and the surrounding areas.The data used in this study were earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.4 to 8.0.High-quality,real-time broadband seismographic data were provided by the International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks Web Services(FDSNWS)and the European Integrated Data Archive(EIDA)Federation in Indonesia and the surrounding areas.Furthermore,the inversion process and filter adjustment were carried out on the seismographic data to obtain good CMT solutions.The CMT solutions from Gisola provided good-quality solutions,in which all earthquake data had A-level quality(high quality,with good variant reduction).The Gisola CMT solution was justified with the Global CMT(GCMT)solution by using the Kagan angle value,with an average of approximately 11.2°.This result suggested that the CMT solution generated from Gisola was trustworthy and reliable.The Gisola CMT solution was typically available within approximately 15 minutes after an earthquake occurred.Once it met the quality requirement,it was automatically published on the internet.The catalog of local and regional earthquake records obtained through this technology holds great promise for improving the current understanding of regional seismic activity and ongoing tectonic processes.The accurate and real-time CMT solution generated by implementing the Gisola algorithm consisted of moment tensors and moment magnitudes,which provided invaluable insights into earthquakes occurring in Indonesia and the surrounding areas.

Tensile strength and failure behavior of rock-mortar interfaces: Direct and indirect measurements

The tensile strength at the rock-concrete interface is one of the crucial factors controlling the failure mechanisms of structures,such as concrete gravity dams.Despite the critical importance of the failure mechanism and tensile strength of rock-concrete interfaces,understanding of these factors remains very limited.This study investigated the tensile strength and fracturing processes at rock-mortar interfaces subjected to direct and indirect tensile loadings.Digital image correlation(DIC)and acoustic emission(AE)techniques were used to monitor the failure mechanisms of specimens subjected to direct tension and indirect loading(Brazilian tests).The results indicated that the direct tensile strength of the rock-mortar specimens was lower than their indirect tensile strength,with a direct/indirect tensile strength ratio of 65%.DIC strain field data and moment tensor inversions(MTI)of AE events indicated that a significant number of shear microcracks occurred in the specimens subjected to the Brazilian test.The presence of these shear microcracks,which require more energy to break,resulted in a higher tensile strength during the Brazilian tests.In contrast,microcracks were predominantly tensile in specimens subjected to direct tension,leading to a lower tensile strength.Spatiotemporal monitoring of the cracking processes in the rock-mortar interfaces revealed that they show AE precursors before failure under the Brazilian test,whereas they show a minimal number of AE events before failure under direct tension.Due to different microcracking mechanisms,specimens tested under Brazilian tests showed lower roughness with flatter fracture surfaces than those tested under direct tension with jagged and rough fracture surfaces.The results of this study shed light on better understanding the micromechanics of damage in the rock-concrete interfaces for a safer design of engineering structures.

Seismic safety assessment with non-Gaussian random processes for train-bridge coupled systems

Extensive high-speed railway(HSR)network resembled the intricate vascular system of the human body,crisscrossing mainlands.Seismic events,known for their unpredictability,pose a significant threat to both trains and bridges,given the HSR’s extended operational duration.Therefore,ensuring the running safety of train-bridge coupled(TBC)system,primarily composed of simply supported beam bridges,is paramount.Traditional methods like the Monte Carlo method fall short in analyzing this intricate system efficiently.Instead,efficient algorithm like the new point estimate method combined with moment expansion approximation(NPEM-MEA)is applied to study random responses of numerical simulation TBC systems.Validation of the NPEM-MEA’s feasibility is conducted using the Monte Carlo method.Comparative analysis confirms the accuracy and efficiency of the method,with a recommended truncation order of four to six for the NPEM-MEA.Additionally,the influences of seismic magnitude and epicentral distance are discussed based on the random dynamic responses in the TBC system.This methodology not only facilitates seismic safety assessments for TBC systems but also contributes to standard-setting for these systems under earthquake conditions.

Towards fast focal mechanism inversion of shallow crustal earthquakes in the Chinese mainland

We have developed an automatic regional focal mechanism inversion system based on the Earthquake Rapid Report(ERR) system and the real-time three-component seismic waveform stream of 1 000 broadband seismic stations provided by the China Earthquake Networks Center(CENC). The system can rapidly provide a double couple solution and centroid depth within 5–15 min after receiving earthquake information from the ERR system.The data processing is triggered by earthquake information obtained from the ERR system. The system is capable of determining the focal mechanism of all shallow-depth earthquakes in the Chinese mainland with a magnitude of 5.5–6.5. It utilizes waveform data recorded by seismic stations located within 500 km from the epicenter,enabling the reporting of a focal mechanism solution within 5–15 min of an earthquake occurrence. Additionally,the system can assign a corresponding grade(A B C) to the focal mechanism solution. We processed a total of 301earthquakes that occurred from 2021 to June 2022, and after the quality control, 166 of them were selected.These selected solutions were manually checked, and 160 of them were compiled in a focal mechanism catalog.This catalog can be conveniently downloaded online via the Internet. The automatic focal mechanism solution of earthquakes in eastern China exhibits a good agreement with that provided by the Global Centroid Moment Tensor(GCMT), when available. The average Kagan angle between this catalog and GCMT is 22°, and the average difference in MWis 0.17. Furthermore, compared with GCMT, the minimum magnitude of our catalog has been reduced from approximately 5.0 to 4.0. The correlation between the centroid depth and crustal thickness in the Chinese mainland confirms the distribution of the centroid depth.

Capturing the Pictorial Beauty of the Great Wall

In the quest to capture the most impressive moments of the majestic Great Wall,post-90s generation photographer Yang Dong found his lifelong pursuit.FOR photographers,serendipity is the essential catalyst for seizing a decisive moment.Yang Dong first experienced his in 2016,while taking a rest at the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall in north China’s Hebei Province.

Non-Uniform Pion Tetrahedron Aether and Electron Tetrahedron Model

We propose that the QCD vacuum pion tetrahedron condensate density vary in space and drops to extremely low values in the Kennan, Barger and Cowie (KBC) void in analogy to earth’s atmospheric density drop with elevation from earth. We propose a formula for the gravitation acceleration based on the non-uniform pion tetrahedron condensate. Gravity may be due to the underlying microscopic attraction between quarks and antiquarks, which are part of the vacuum pion tetrahedron condensate. We propose an electron tetrahedron model, where electrons are comprised of tetraquark tetrahedrons, and . The quarks determine the negative electron charge and the or quarks determine the electron two spin states. The electron tetrahedron may perform a high frequency quark exchange reactions with the pion tetrahedron condensate by tunneling through the condensation gap creating a delocalized electron cloud with a fixed spin. The pion tetrahedron may act as a QCD glue bonding electron pairs in atoms and molecules and protons to neutrons in the nuclei. Conservation of valence quarks and antiquarks is proposed.

Exploring a New Lifetime Distribution for Modelling the Waiting Time of Bank Customers

The fitting of lifetime distribution in real-life data has been studied in various fields of research. With the theory of evolution still applicable, more complex data from real-world scenarios will continue to emerge. Despite this, many researchers have made commendable efforts to develop new lifetime distributions that can fit this complex data. In this paper, we utilized the KM-transformation technique to increase the flexibility of the power Lindley distribution, resulting in the Kavya-Manoharan Power Lindley (KMPL) distribution. We study the mathematical treatments of the KMPL distribution in detail and adapt the widely used method of maximum likelihood to estimate the unknown parameters of the KMPL distribution. We carry out a Monte Carlo simulation study to investigate the performance of the Maximum Likelihood Estimates (MLEs) of the parameters of the KMPL distribution. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the KMPL distribution for data fitting, we use a real dataset comprising the waiting time of 100 bank customers. We compare the KMPL distribution with other models that are extensions of the power Lindley distribution. Based on some statistical model selection criteria, the summary results of the analysis were in favor of the KMPL distribution. We further investigate the density fit and probability-probability (p-p) plots to validate the superiority of the KMPL distribution over the competing distributions for fitting the waiting time dataset.

Improved Units of Measure in Rotational Mechanics

The SI system of units in rotational mechanics yields correct numerical results, but it produces physically incorrect units of measure in many cases. SI units also violate the principle of general covariance—the general rule for defining continuous coordinates and units in mathematics and mathematical physics. After 30+ years of wrestling with these problems, the ultimate authority on units of measure has declared that Newton–meter and Joule are not equivalent in rotational mechanics, as they are in the rest of physics. This article proposes a simple modification to SI units called “Nonstandard International units” (“NI units”) until a better name is agreed upon. NI units yield correct numerical results and physically correct units of measure, and they satisfy the principle of general covariance. The main obstacle to the adoption of NI units is the consensus among users that the radius of rotation should have the unit meter because the radius can be measured with a ruler. NI units assigned to radius should have units meter/radian because the radius is a conversion factor between angular size and circumferential length, as in arclength = rθ. To manage the social consensus behind SI units, the author recommends retaining SI units as they are, and informing users who want correct units that NI units solve the technical problems of SI units.

Momentous Connections

Taiwan Residents business people are thrilled with the new direct transportation links between their island and the

On the International Society of Zoological Sciences: reflections upon a momentous decade

Those of us who are fortunate enough to have the passion and wherewithal to study nature will reflect,with pleasure,upon these words:“I can see(no limit)to the beauty and infinite complexity of the co-adaptations between all organic beings,one with another and with their physical conditions of life”(Darwin,On the Ori­gin of Species,1859).Darwin is the founder of modern biology,but his awe of nature had genesis not in isola­tion but in the formative world of other enlightened sci­entists.In the same manner.

Moment magnitudes of two large Turkish earthquakes on February 6,2023 from long-period coda

Two large earthquakes(an earthquake doublet)occurred in south-central Turkey on February 6,2023,causing massive damages and casualties.The magnitudes and the relative sizes of the two mainshocks are essential information for scientific research and public awareness.There are obvious discrepancies among the results that have been reported so far,which may be revised and updated later.Here we applied a novel and reliable long-period coda moment magnitude method to the two large earthquakes.The moment magnitudes(with one standard error)are 7.95±0.013 and 7.86±0.012,respectively,which are larger than all the previous reports.The first mainshock,which matches the largest recorded earthquakes in the Turkish history,is slightly larger than the second one by 0.11±0.035 in magnitude or by 0.04 to 0.18 at 95%confidence level.

Analysis of rockburst mechanism and warning based on microseismic moment tensors and dynamic Bayesian networks

One of the major factors inhibiting the construction of deep underground projects is the risk posed by rockbursts.A study was conducted on the access tunnel of the Shuangjiangkou hydropower station to determine the evolutionary mechanism of microfractures within the surrounding rock mass during rockburst development and develop a rockburst warning model.The study area was chosen through the combination of field studies with an analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of microseismic(MS)events.The moment tensor inversion method was adopted to study rockburst mechanism,and a dynamic Bayesian network(DBN)was applied to investigating the sensitivity of MS source parameters for rockburst warnings.A MS multivariable rockburst warning model was proposed and validated using two case studies.The results indicate that fractures in the surrounding rock mass during the development of strain-structure rockbursts initially show shear failure and are then followed by tensile failure.The effectiveness of the DBN-based rockburst warning model was demonstrated using self-validation and K-fold cross-validation.Moment magnitude and source radius are the most sensitive factors based on an investigation of the influence on the parent and child nodes in the model,which can serve as important standards for rockburst warnings.The proposed rockburst warning model was found to be effective when applied to two actual projects.

Centrifuge tests for seismic response of single pile foundation supported wind turbines in sand influenced by earthquake history

This paper reports on two sets of centrifuge model tests of wind turbines in dry sand and saturated sand subjected to earthquake sequences.The wind turbine system is composed of a single pile foundation and a wind turbine.All tests were applied with liquefaction experiments and analysis projects(LEAP)waves to simplify the analysis.The objectives of the tests are to investigate:(1)the influence of earthquake history on the seismic response of wind turbines;(2)the influence of earthquake history on the dynamic pile-soil interaction;and(3)the influence of two different foundation types on the seismic response of wind turbines.The tests indicated that earthquake history has a significant influence on the natural frequency of the pile and the soil around the pile in the saturated sand,but has no obvious influence on the dry sand.The shear modulus of the soil and the acceleration amplification factor of the pile top in both tests increased and the maximum bending moment envelope of the single pile foundation shrunk.The stiffness of the p-y curve in saturated sand was increased by the earthquake history,while that in dry sand was not significantly affected.

Determining the moment of inertia of triaxial Mars with updated global gravity models

The principal moments of inertia(PMIs)with the principal axes are usually taken as the dynamic figure parameters of Mars;they can be deduced from satellite-observed degree-two gravitational potentials in recent global gravity models and from the dynamic ellipticities resulting from precession observations.These PMIs are natural and significant for the geodetic,geophysical,and geodynamic problems of Mars,which are functions of internal density distributions.In this study,a closed and concise formula for determining the PMIs of the entire planet and its core was developed based on the second invariants of gravity and a multipole expansion.We deduced the polar oblateness J^(2)and the equatorial ellipticity J_(22)of Mars to be 1.9566×10^(−3)and 6.3106×10^(−5),respectively.The preferred principal moments of inertia of Mars are A=2.66589×1036 kg·m^(2),B=2.66775×10^(36)kg·m^(2),and C=2.68125×10^(36)kg·m^(2).These values indicate that Mar is slightly triaxial.The equatorial principal moment of inertia of the Martian core is 1.46008×10^(35)kg·m^(2),accounting for~5.47%of the planet’s PMI;this result is critical for investigating the density and size of the core of Mars,and the planet’s free core nutation.

GPU-acceleration 3D rotated-staggered-grid solutions to microseismic anisotropic wave equation with moment tensor implementation

To improve the accuracy of microseismic inversion,seismic anisotropy and moment tensor source should be carefully considered in the forward modelling stage.In this study,3D microseismic anisotropy wave forward modelling with a moment tensor source was proposed.The modelling was carried out based on a rotated-staggered-grid(RSG)scheme.In contrast to staggered-grids,the RSG scheme defines the velocity components and densities at the same grid,as do the stress components and elastic parameters.Therefore,the elastic moduli do not need to be interpolated.In addition,the detailed formulation and implementation of moment-tensor source loaded on the RSG was presented by equating the source to the stress increments.Meanwhile,the RSG-based 3D wave equation forward modelling was performed in parallel using compute unified device architecture(CUDA)programming on a graphics processing unit(GPU)to improve its efficiency.Numerical simulations including homogeneous and anisotropic models were carried out using the method proposed in this paper,and compared with other methods to prove the reliability of this method.Furthermore,the high efficiency of the proposed approach was evaluated.The results show that the computational efficiency of proposed method can be improved by about two orders of magnitude compared with traditional central processing unit(CPU)computing methods.It could not only help the analysis of microseismic full wavefield records,but also provide support for passive source inversion,including location and focal mechanism inversion,and velocities inversion.