CENTRAL MEXICO VELOCITY MODEL: GEOPHYSICAL, GEOTECHNICAL, AND GEOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS AND VALIDATION THROUGH GROUND MOTION SIMULATIONS

We present a crustal velocity model of Central Mexico (CMVM1.0) based on geophysical experiments, geotechnical information, and geological features. The crustal model consolidates the Pardo and Suarez (1995), Valdez and Meyer (1996) and Perez-Campos et al. (2008) proposals regarding the P and S-wave velocity and subduction geometry. A structure representing the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is included following Gomez-Truena et al. (2007). Additionally, the model includes recent noise tomography-based velocities and detailed geotechnical models of several urban areas within the region. The intended use of the CMVM1.0 is for ground motion simulations and seismic hazard assessments in the region. Thus, we perform a validation of the structure using Olsen and Mayhew (2010) goodness-of-fit criteria for two well-recorded recent earthquakes simulated using a large scale finite element toolchain (Tu et al., 2006). We conclude that the model can predict the ground motion with a fair goodness-of-fit grade according to the scale given by Olsen and Mayhew (2010).