The 15 January 2022 climactic eruption of Hunga volcano, Tonga, produced an explosion in the atmosphere of a size that has not been documented in the modern geophysical record. The event generated a broad range of atmospheric waves observed globally by various ground-based and spaceborne instrumentation networks. Most prominent was the surface-guided Lamb wave (≲0.01 hertz), which we observed propagating for four (plus three antipodal) passages around Earth over 6 days. As measured by the Lamb wave amplitudes, the climactic Hunga explosion was comparable in size to that of the 1883 Krakatau eruption. The Hunga eruption produced remarkable globally detected infrasound (0.01 to 20 hertz), long-range (~10,000 kilometers) audible sound, and ionospheric perturbations. Seismometers worldwide recorded pure seismic and air-to-ground coupled waves. Air-to-sea coupling likely contributed to fast-arriving tsunamis. Here, we highlight exceptional observations of the atmospheric waves.

We present results from forward modelling to study the feasibility of using S-to-P converted phases to image the seismic discontinuity structure of the crust and upper mantle. We show that a significant level of P-wave energy arriving before the direct S-wave arrival can interfere with the S-to-P converted phases of interest and may result in Sp receiver function phases that do not represent true earth structure. The source of this P-wave energy is attributable to a number of phases, including those that have undergone multiple reflections off the Earth's surface. For deep focus earthquakes (300–600 km deep), a significant amount of P-wave energy is observed from pPPP, pPPPP and sPPPP phases, and arrives within the same time window as predicted for S-to-P converted phases from the direct S phase arrival. Furthermore, for earthquakes at all depths, interfering P-wave energy arrives within the same time window as predicted for S-to-P converted phases from the SKS phase arrival, limiting the usefulness of SKSp receiver functions for upper mantle imaging. To isolate true Sp receiver function phases from contamination due to other P-wave phases, we find it necessary to stack receiver functions from a range of epicentral distances and depths in order to aid the suppression of noise and other unwanted phases. We provide constraints on the noise levels to be expected as a function of epicentral distance and earthquake depth. We find that the lowest noise levels are achievable by restricting epicentral distance to less than 75 degrees and the depth of earthquakes used to less than 300 km.

Since 2004, the most complete estimate of background noise levels across the continental United States was attained using 61 broadband seismic stations to calculate power spectral density (PSD) probability density functions. To improve seismic noise estimates across the United States, we examine vertical component seismic data from the EarthScope USArray Transportable Array seismic network that rolled across the United States and southeastern Canada between 2004 and 2015 and form a large (10 TB) PSD database from 1679 stations that contains no smoothing or binning of the spectral estimates. Including station outages, our database has a mean of 98.9% data completeness, and we present maps showing the spatial and temporal variability of seismic noise in six bands of interest between 0.2 and 75 s period. At 0.2 s period, seismic noise across the eastern United States is predominantly anthropogenically generated and may be subsequently amplified more than 20 decibels in the sandy and water-saturated sediments of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain and Mississippi Embayment. In these sediments, 1 s noise shows similar amplification and is generated through a variety of mechanisms across the United States including cultural activity throughout Kentucky and the southeastern Appalachian Mountains, lake waves around the Great Lakes, and ocean waves throughout New England, the Pacific Northwest, and Florida. Both 0.2 and 1 s noise levels are the lowest in the Intermountain West portion of the United States. We attribute this to a combination of installations on crystalline rocks and reduced population density. Finally, we find that sensors emplaced in sandy, water-saturated sediments observe median, diurnal variations in vertical component power at 18–75 s period, which we infer arise through local deformation driven by pressure variations. Ultimately, our results underscore that for shallow (<5 m depth) sensor installation, bedrock provides superior broadband noise performance compared to unconsolidated sediments.

Southwestern Mexico is a region of complex active tectonics with subduction of the young Rivera and Cocos plates to the south and widespread magmatism and rifting in the continental interior. Here we use receiver function analysis on data recorded by a 50 station temporary deployment of seismometers known as the MARS (MApping the Rivera Subduction zone) array to investigate crustal structure as well as the nature of the subduction interface near the coast. The array was deployed in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan. Crustal thickness varies from 20 km near the coast to 42 km in the continental interior. The Rivera plate has steeper dip than the Cocos plate and is also deeper along the coast than previous estimates have shown. Inland, there is not a correlation between the thickness of the crust and topography indicating that the high topography in northern Jalisco and Michoacan is likely supported by buoyant mantle. High crustalV_p/V_sratios (greater than 1.82) are found beneath the trenchward edge of magmatism including below the Central Jalisco Volcanic Lineament and the Michoacan‐Guanajuato Volcanic Field implying a new arc is forming closer to the trench than the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt. Elsewhere in the region, crustalV_p/V_sratios are normal. The subducting Rivera and Cocos plates are marked by a dipping shear wave low‐velocity layer. We estimate the thickness of the low‐velocity layer to be 3 to 4 km with an unusually highV_p/V_sratio of 2.0 to 2.1 and a drop inSvelocity of 25%. We postulate that the low‐velocity zone is the upper oceanic crust with high pore pressures. The low‐velocity zone ends from 45 to 50 km depth and likely marks the basalt to eclogite transition.

The accuracy of timing across a seismic network is important for locating earthquakes as well as studies that use phase-arrival information (e.g., tomography). The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) was designed with the goal of having reported timing be better than 10 ms. In this work, we provide a brief overview of how timing is kept across the GSN and discuss how clock-quality metrics are embedded in Standard for Exchange of Earthquake Data records. Specifically, blockette 1001 contains the timing-quality field, which can be used to identify time periods when poor clock quality could compromise timing accuracy. To verify the timing across the GSN, we compare cross-correlation lags between collocated sensors from 1 January 2000 to 1 January 2020. We find that the mean error is less than 10 ms, with much of the difference likely coming from the method or uncertainty in the phase response of the instruments. This indicates that timing across the GSN is potentially better than 10 ms. We conclude that unless clock quality is compromised (as indicated in blockette 1001), GSN data’s timing accuracy should be suitable for most current seismological applications that require 10 ms accuracy. To assist users, the GSN network operators have implemented a “gsn_timing” metric available via the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Data Management Center that helps users identify data with substandard timing accuracy (the 10 ms design goal of the GSN).