TiMEpy: A Python Package for Analyzing Tidal Modulation of Fast and Slow Earthquakes

Weifan Lu

Due to interactions between the solid Earth and tidal forces, the crust experiences continuous stress perturbations. Understanding how earthquakes respond to tidal stresses provides unique insights into the mechanisms governing earthquake nucleation. Here, we present TiMEpy, an open-source Python package designed to detect tidal modulation in both fast and slow earthquakes. TiMEpy includes fundamental tools for earthquake declustering, converting tidal strain to stress, and correlating earthquakes with tidal stress by extracting phase and level information. Based on these phase and level data, the package offers three methods to evaluate the strength of tidal modulation. TiMEpy can be applied not only to time-series analyses preceding large earthquakes, but also to regional or grid-based investigations of earthquake–tidal correlations. To validate its performance, we applied TiMEpy to the Ridgecrest earthquakes in California and tectonic tremors in Taiwan, demonstrating its stability and reliability. Overall, TiMEpy provides an effective framework for examining earthquake–tidal interactions, offering researchers and practitioners a powerful tool for advancing our understanding of earthquake physics.