Abstract
The attenuation of seismic waves can be measured by the quality factorQ, which is an important parameter of the physical properties of the Earth's interior. Using the extended coda-normalization method, we estimatedQ-values for P waves (Q P) and S waves (Q S) in the southern Korean Peninsula as well as for the three sub-tectonic provinces (the Gyeonggi Massif, the Ogcheon Belt and the Yeongnam Massif, and the Gyeongsang Basin) in it. We chose 675 seismograms from 189 earthquakes that occurred in Korea from January 2001 to October 2003. Most earthquakes had small magnitudes (ML≤3.0) and shallow focal depths (≤15 km). Assuming thatQ is independent of frequency, theQ-value and geometric spreading factor (γ) were calculated simultaneously using least squares inversion. The resulting values for the southern Korean Peninsula wereQ P=1384 andQ S=2036. The Gyeongsang Basin had the lowest value, indicating that its crustal structure is relatively heterogeneous and might be highly fractured. The γ values varied from 0.73 to 0.87. Assuming thatQ is dependent on frequency and γ has a constant value of 1.0, the values ofQ at the central frequencies of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, and 30 Hz yieldedQ P=188.6f 0.8110 andQ S=201.4f 0.7509 for the southern Korean Peninsula. We analyzed the variation ofQ S for two hypocentral distance ranges: 0–90 km and 90–180 km, respectively. The estimatedQ-values for both P and S waves in the Gyeongsang Basin are the lowest, except for the case ofQ S(f), in the low frequency range. The frequency-dependentQ S for the hypocentral distance range of 90 to 180 km, appeared to be the larger than that for the shorter distance range. The values ofQ S(f) estimated in this study were comparatively higher than for a seismically active area.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aki, K., 1980, Attenuation of shear waves in the lithosphere for frequency from 0.05 to 25 Hz. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 21, 50–60.
Aki, K., and Chouet, B., 1975, Origin of coda-waves: Source, attenuation, and scattering effects. Journal of Geophysical Research, 80, 3322–3342.
Atkinson, G.M., 2004, Empirical attenuation of ground-motion spectral amplitudes in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Bulletin of the Seismological. Society of America, 94, 1079–1095.
Atkinson, G.M. and Mereu, R.F., 1992, The shape of ground motion attenuation curves in southeastern Canada. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 82, 2014–2031.
Brockman, S.R. and Bollinger, G.A., 1992, Q estimates along the Wasatch Front in Utah derived from Sg and Lg wave amplitudes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 82, 135–147.
Cho, N.D. and Baag, C.E., 2003, Estimation of spectrum decay parameter κ and stochastic prediction of strong ground motions in southeastern Korea. Bulletin of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea, 7, 59–70. (in Korean with English abstract)
Chun, K.Y., West, G.F., Kokoski, R.J. and Samson, C., 1987, A novel technique for measuring Lg attenuation—Results from eastern Canada between 1 to 10 Hz. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 77, 398–419.
Chung, T.W. and Sato, H., 2000, A study on the attenuation of high-frequency P and S waves in the crust of southeastern South Korea using the seismic data in Deok-jung Rj. Journal of Korean Geophysical Society, 3, 193–200. (in Korean with English abstract)
Chung, T.W. and Sato, H., 2001a, Attenuation of high-frequency P and S waves in the crust of southeastern South Korea. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 91, 1867–1874.
Chung, T.W. and Sato, H., 2001b, A preliminary study on the attenuation of high-frequency P and S waves in the crust of the Yangsan fault area, southeastern South Korea. Science Reprint of Tohoku University (Series 5), 36, 291–294.
Chung, T.W., Sato, H. and Lee, K., 2001, A study ofQ p −1 andQ s −1 based on data of 9 station in the crust of the southeasterr Korea using extended coda normalization method. Journal of Korean Earth Sciences Society, 22, 500–511, (in Korean with English abstract)
Hino, M., 1986, Spectral Analysis. Asakura-Shoten, Tokyo, 300 pp. (in Japanese)
Kim, K.D., Chung, T.W., and Kyung, J.B., 2004, Attenuation of high-frequency P and S waves in the crust of the eastern part of choongchung Province, central South Korea. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 94, 1070–1078.
Kim, S.K., 1995, A study on the crustal structure of the Korean Peninsula. Journal of Geological Society of Korea, 31, 393–403. (in Korean with English abstract)
Kim, K.D., Jun, M.S. and Kim, J.K., 1999, Attenuation of P-wave in the Kyungsang Basin, southeastern Korea. Journal of Geological Society of Korea, 35, 223–228. (in Korean with English abstract)
Kim, S.K., Park, Y.K. and Jun, M.S., 2000, Quality factor structure of the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. Journal of Geological Society of Korea, 36, 529–544. (in Korean with English abstract)
Kim, S.K., Kim, S.K., and Chi, H.C., 2002, Attenuation of peak spectral amplitude of acceleration in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Journal of Geological Society of Korea, 38, 237–250. (in Korean with English abstract)
Petukhin, A., Irikura, K., Ohmi, S. and Kagawa, T., 2003, Estimation of Q-values in the seismogenic and aseismic layers in the Kinki Region, Japan, by elimination of the geometrical spreading effect using ray approximation. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 93, 1498–1515.
Raoof, M., Hermann, R.B. and Malagnini, L., 1999, Attenuation and excitation of three-component ground motion in southern California. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 89, 888–902.
Reedman, A.J. and Um, S.H., Geology of Korea. Korea Institute of Energy and Resources, Seoul, 139p.
Rogers, A.M., Harmsen, S.C., Hermann, R.B. and Meremonte, M.E., 1987, A study of ground motion in the Southern Great Basin, Nevada-California, using several techniques for estimation of Qs, log Ao, and Coda Q. Journal of Geophysical Research, 92, 3527–3540.
Shin, T.C. and Hermann, R.B., 1987, Lg attenuation and source studies using 1982 Miramichi data. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 77, 384–397.
Singh, S.K., Garcia, D., Pacheco, J.F., Valenzuela, R., Bansal, B.K. and Dattatrayam, R.S., 2004, Q of the Indian Shield, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 94, 1564–1570.
Stacey, F.D., 1977, Physics of the earth, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 414 p.
Stacey, F.D., Gladwin, M.T., Mckavanagh, B., Linde, A.T. and Hastic, L.M., 1975, Anelastic damping of acoustic and seismic pulses. Geophysical Survey, 2, 133–157.
Yoshimoto, K., Sato, H. and Ohtake, M., 1993, Frequency-dependent attenuation of P and S waves in the Kanto area, Japan, based on the coda-normalization method. Geophysical Journal International, 114, 165–174.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, S.K., Yang, J.Y. & Oh, J. Q-values for P and S waves in the southern Korean Peninsula based on the coda-normalization method. Geosci J 10, 465–477 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910440
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910440