The Lorca Earthquake observed by GPS: a Test Case for GPS Seismology

1 Hz GPS data recorded by the GNSS network of the Consejeria de Agricultura y Agua of the Murcia Region during the Mw 5.1 Lorca earthquake on May 11th 2011 is used as a test case. A Precise Point Positioning (PPP) approach is applied to analyse the earthquake-induced motion of the station LORC, located close to the epicenter. The results are validated using a conventional Double Differences (DD) processing. After applying sidereal and regional filters, the detected transient motion is about 20 millimeters in each component and clearly above noise level. The results from the two different processings are compared in view of the accuracy and applicability. The PPP approach described here can potentially be used for real-time analysis e.g. based on NTRIP streaming data. It may be used to set up an early warning system, as well as to gain real-time knowledge of ongoing earthquakes, extending the already-existing seismic information obtained from classical measurements.