Harmonization check of M w within the central, northern, and northwestern European earthquake catalogue (CENEC)

Large data sets covering large areas and time spans and composed of many different independent sources raise the question of the obtained degree of harmonization. The present study is an analysis of the harmonization with respect to the moment magnitude M w within the earthquake catalogue for central, northern, and northwestern Europe (CENEC). The CENEC earthquake catalogue (Grünthal et al., J Seismol, 2009) contains parameters for over 8,000 events in the time period 1000-2004 with magnitude M w≥3.5. Only about 2% of the data used for CENEC have original M w magnitudes derived directly from digital data. Some of the local catalogues and data files providing data give M w, but calculated by the respective agency from other magnitude measures or intensity. About 60% of the local data give strength measures other than M w, and these have to be transformed by us using available formulae or new regressions based on original M w data. Although all events are thus unified to M w magnitude, inhomogeneity in the M w obtained from over 40 local catalogues and data files and 50 special studies is inevitable. Two different approaches have been followed to investigate the compatibility of the different M w sets throughout CENEC. The first harmonization check is performed using M w from moment tensor solutions from SMTS and Pondrelli et al. (Phys Earth Planet Inter 130:71-101, 2002; Phys Earth Planet Inter 164:90-112, 2007). The method to derive the SMTS is described, e.g., by Braunmiller et al. (Tectonophysics 356:5-22, 2002) and Bernardi et al. (Geophys J Int 157:703-716, 2004), and the data are available in greater extent since 1997. One check is made against the M w given in national catalogues and another against the M w derived by applying different empirical relations developed for CENEC. The second harmonization check concerns the vast majority of data in CENEC related to earthquakes prior to 1997 or where no moment tensor based M w exists. In this case, an empirical relation for the M w dependence on epicentral intensity (I 0) and focal depth (h) was derived for 41 master events, i.e., earthquakes, located all over central Europe, with high-quality data. To include also the data lacking h, the corresponding depth-independent relation for these 41 events was also derived. These equations are compared with the different sets of data from which CENEC has been composed, and the goodness of fit is demonstrated for each set. The vast majority of the events are very