Input Formats

Required Inputs

The input to the USGS slab modeling code accepts data in a variety of formats. The primary data source is earthquake hypocenter data, which can be downloaded from the ComCat database. This data is downloaded as a collection of csv files, then can be formatted into an input database for making a slab model. For specific instructions on how to get new data from ComCat, visit the _sec-make_inputs section within the Users guide.

Data from the Global Centroid Moment Tensors (GCMT) catalog can also be automatically downloaded. Similarly, this data is downloaded as a collection of text files, which are then formatted and combined with the Preliminary Determined Epicenters (PDE) data from ComCat to make an input database. The earthquake (EQ) data is stored to a file named ALL_EQ_MMDDYY.csv with the date the database was created.

Earthquake (EQ)

CSV file with columns:

  • id_no

  • time

  • lat (in degrees)

  • lon (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

  • mag

  • mrr

  • mtt

  • mpp

  • mrt

  • mrp

  • mtp

  • type

  • mlon

  • mlat

  • mdep

Optional Inputs

USGS slab models may also be further constrained with a variety of supplementary data types including:

Active-Source (AS)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

Bathymetry (BA)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

  • unc (in km)

  • elev (in km)

  • thickness (in km)

Control Points (CP)

CSV file with columns:

  • x (same as lon)

  • Curve1 (same as lat)

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

Earthquake Relocations (ER)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

  • unc (in km)

  • etype

  • mag

Reciever Functions (RF)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

  • unc (in km)

  • etype

  • src

Seismic Reflection (SR)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

  • unc (in km)

  • etype

  • src

Seismic Tomography (ST)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

Tomography (TO)

CSV file with columns:

  • lon (in degrees)

  • lat (in degrees)

  • depth (in km)

Processed input Files:

The above data types may be consolidated into slab-specific input files, which are then used for making new slab models with the make_input.py module. For each slab, an input csv file will be created with columns:

  • lat : latitude in degrees

  • lon : longitude in degrees

  • depth : depth in km

  • unc : uncertainty (km)

  • ID : event ID

  • etype : 2-digit data type code

  • mag : event magnitude

  • time : event time

  • Paz : compressional component azimuth

  • Ppl : compresstional component plunge

  • Taz : tensional component azimuth

  • Tpl : tensional component plunge

  • S1 : first nodal plane strike

  • D1 : first nodal plane dip

  • R1 : first nodal plane rake

  • S2 : second nodal plane strike

  • D2 : second nodal plane dip

  • R2 : second nodal plane rake

  • mlon : event longitude in degrees

  • mlat : event latitude in degrees

  • mdep : event depth in km

  • id_no : Slab ID number

  • src : source file code