Some properties of low-frequency seismic noise

The low-frequency seismic noise recorded by the broadband IRIS stations in 1994–2012 is studied in the period range of 40 to 360 s. It is shown that for samples of a few months in length, the power spectra of noise at stations spaced apart a few thousand kilometers and operating in different meteorological and seismotectonic conditions are overall similar, which indicates that the sources of the noise are global. At the same time, the slope of the spectra changes with the increase in the period in the subintervals of 40–90, 120–200, and 200–360 s, which points to the difference of the sources generating the seismic noise. The amplitude of the noise at the stations located a few thousand km apart from the Sumatra earthquake of December 26, 2004, M = 9.2, and from the Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011, M = 9.0, increased after these events. This indicates the global character of the aftermath of these seismic catastrophes. After the Kronotskoe earthquake of December 5, 1997, which was weaker (M = 7.9), the noise grew only at the PET station located within 300 km of the epicenter. According to the records at the PET station, this earthquake was preceded by the increased noise level observed in 1994–1997. After 1999, the seismic noise declined and remained low up to the end of the studied interval with a duration of 14 years. Our results show that the low-frequency seismic noise generated by the sources in the atmosphere of the Earth is contributed by the processes taking place in the lithosphere.