Micro-aftershockswithmagnituderangeof1.5-4aroundtheWenchuanearthquakeepicenter,thesouthernpartoftheLongmenshanfaultzone,exhibitgoodfrequency-magnitudelinearrelationships,thusenablingb-valueanalysis.Theaverageb-valueformicro-aftershocksofM1.5-4fromJulytoDecemberof2008inourlocalstudyregionisabout0.88,similartotheb-valueforallaftershocksofM3.0-5.5fromMay,2008toMay,2009alongthewholeLongmenshanfaultzone.Thesimilaritybetweenthelocalandregionalb-valuespossiblyindicatesthatthesouthernpartoftheLongmenshanfaultzonehassimilarseismogenicenvironmenttothewholeLongmenshanfaultzone.Alternatively,itmayalsoimplythatb-valuesderivedfromalleventswithoutconsiderationofstructuralvariationcannotdiscriminatelocal-scaletectonicinformation.Thepresentstudyshowsthattheb-valuefortheWenchuanearthquakemicro-aftershocksvarieswithdifferentregions.Theb-valueinsouthwestoftheYingxiutownishigherthanthatinthenortheastoftheYingxiutown.Thehighb-valueinthesouthwestpartwheretheWenchuanearthquakemainshockhypocenterlocatedindicatesthatthecurrentstressaroundthehypocenterregionismuchlowerthanitssurroundingarea.Theb-valuesarealsodependentondepth.Atshallowdepthsof<5km,theb-valuesareverysmall(~0.4),possiblybeingrelatedtostrongwaveattenuationorstrongheterogeneityinshallowlayerswithhighcontentofporosityandfractures.Atdepthsof~5-11km,wheremostaftershocksconcentrated,theb-valuesbecomeashighas~0.9-1.0.Atthedepthbelow~11km,theb-valuesdecreasewiththedepthincreasing,beingconsistentwithincreasingtectonichomogeneityandincreasingstresswithdepth.
