A detailed seismological interpretation of the strong motion records was attempted for the 1966 Parkfield earthquake, California. Velocity and displacement traced integrated from the corresponding recorded accelerograms were found most valuable in studying the earthquake mechanism and wave forms. A double-couple right-lateral strike-slip mechanism (along the San Andreas fault) is consistent with the recorded direct S-wave originating from the hypocenter. High energy arrivals observed on the velocity traces are interpreted as S-waves (‘stopping phases’) that originated at the termination of the rupture toward the south-east of the San Andreas fault. A double-couple left-lateral strike-slip mechanism is suggested as the cause of this rupture termination. From particle velocity diagrams of the stopping phases in the horizontal plane, the rupture length was found to be between 20 and 28 km. Corresponding rupture velocities are estimated to be 2.5±0.1and 3.1±0.5 km/s. The inference from the strong motion records is that Love waves more excited at the south-western than the north-eastern side of the fault, whereas the Rayleigh waves were more energetic at the north-eastern than the south-western side of the fault.

Keywords