Seismic velocity structure in the Hemet Stepover and Trifurcation Areas of the San Jacinto Fault Zone from double-difference earthquake tomography

We present tomographic images of crustal velocity structures in the Hemet Stepover and Trifurcation areas of the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) based on double-difference inversions of earthquake arrival times. We discretize both regions with a horizontal 250m grid spacing and a vertical 500m spacing within 50km by 50km by 20km volumes. We invert for VP, VS, and hypocenter location using data from 16064 earthquakes recorded at 136 stations. In total, we use 266,969 P and 148,249 S arrivals to constrain the seismic velocity structures in the two regions. With large numbers of both arrivals, we are able to obtain images of VP and VS at similar resolutions, enabling us to make spatial maps of and interpret the VP/VS ratios. Though ray coverage is limited at shallow depths, we obtain high-fidelity images of seismic velocities from 2 to 12 km, and validate the results using checkerboard tests. The tomographic images indicate that the velocity of the trifurcation area as a whole is lower than adjacent unfaulted material. We interpret a 4km-wide low velocity zone in the trifurcation itself as fault zone damage related due to high VP/VS ratio. We also observe clear velocity contrasts across the Buck Ridge, Clark, and Coyote Creek segments of the SJFZ. The Anza segment of the SJFZ, to the NW of the trifurcation area, displays a strong (up to 27%) contrast of VS from 2km to 9km. In the Hemet Stepover, a low velocity zone between the Claremont and Casa Loma Strands narrows with depth, with clear velocity contrasts observed across both segments. A roughly 10km-wide zone of low velocity and low VP/VS ratio at the NW tip of the Hot Springs fault is indicative of either unconsolidated sediments associated with the San Jacinto basin, or fluid-filled cracks within a broad deformation zone. Relocated seismicity tends to align with the surface traces of the various fault strands, though it is offset to the northeast of the Casa Loma-Clark strand and to the southwest of the Hot Springs fault, possibly indicating dipping fault structure.