Abstract
We have analyzed two 2013 earthquake sequences from the Yellow Sea of Korea, expecting to provide basic information on offshore seismogenic structures of western Korea. The doubledifference technique with Lg-wave cross-correlation enabled our computation of accurate epicenters for small earthquakes. Including 24 events newly detected by cross-correlation, we relocated 55 events that occurred south of Baekryeong Island after May 17. We employed six stations, including a station 210 km from the epicenters to reduce the azimuthal gap. Relocated epicenters tightly clustered, and led us to deduce a possible rupture plane. We clearly separated two clusters using waveform similarity classification of Lg coda that suggests an east–west strike for the fault-plane solution of the mainshock (M w 4.9). Offshore of the city of Boryeong, more than 150 earthquakes occurred from July through August, which is abnormal seismicity for Korea. We relocate 149 epicenters displaying high waveform similarity using 11 stations with an azimuthal gap exceeding 130°. Relocated epicenters form a 700-m line with clear northeastward progression during the period, and correspond well with the northeast–southwest strike of the fault-plane solution for the largest event (M L 3.8). From the sequence, we classified two spatiotemporally separated clusters by Lg-coda waveform similarity. The clearly observed moveout of Pg arrivals have validated our relocation results.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Buurman, H. and West, M.E., 2010, Seismic precursors to volcanic explosions during the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano. In: Power, J.A., Coombs, M.L., and Freymueller, J.T. (eds.), The 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1769, 41–57.
Buurman, H., West, M.E., and Thompson, G., 2013, The seismicity of the 2009 redoubt eruption. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 259, 16–30.
Hauksson, E. and Shearer, P., 2005, Southern California hypocenter relocation with waveform cross-correlation, Part 1: Results using the double-difference method. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 95, 896–903.
Hauksson, E., Yang, W., and Shearer, P.M., 2012, Waveform relocated earthquake catalog for southern California (1981 to June 2011). Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 102, 2239–2244.
Kang, T.-S. and Shin, J.S., 2006, The offshore Uljin, Korea, earthquake sequence of April 2006: seismogenesis in the western margin of the Ulleung Basin. Geosciences Journal, 16, 159–164.
Kim, W.–Y., Choi, H., and Noh, M., 2010, The 20 January 2007 Odaesan, Korea, earthquake sequence: reactivation of a buried strike-slip fault? Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 100, 1120–1137.
Kim, S., Rhie, J., and Kim, G., 2011, Forward waveform modelling procedure for 1-D crustal velocity structure and its application to the southern Korean Peninsula. Geophysical Journal International, 185, 453–468.
Miller, S.A., Collettini, C., Chiaraluce, L., Cocco, M., Barchi, M., and Kaus J.P., 2004, Aftershocks driven by a high-pressure CO2 source at depth. Nature, 427, 724–727.
Minson, S.E. and Dreger, D.S., 2008, Stable inversion for complete moment tensors. Geophysical Journal International, 174, 585–592.
Poupinet, G., Ellsworth, W.L., and Frechet, J., 1984, Monitoring velocity variations in the crus using earthquake doublets: an application to the Calaveras fault, California. Journal of Geophysical Research, 89, 5719–5731.
Richards, P.G., Waldhauser, F., Schaff, D., and Kim, W.-Y., 2006, The applicability of modern methods of earthquake location. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 163, 351–372.
Rowe, C.A., Aster, R.C., Borchers, B., and Young, C.J., 2002, An automatic, adaptive algorithm for refining phase picks in large seismic data sets. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 92, 1660–1674.
Rubinstein, J.L. and Beroza, G.C., 2007, Full waveform earthquake location: Application to seismic streaks on the Calaveras fault, California. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, B05303.
Schaff, D.P., 2008, Semiempirical statistics of correlation-detector performance. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 98, 1495–1507.
Schaff, D.P., 2010, Improvements to detection capability by crosscorrelation for similar events: a case study of the 1999 Xiuyan, China, sequence and synthetic sensitivity tests. Geophysical Journal International, 180, 829–846.
Schaff, D.P. and Richards, P.G., 2004a, Repeating seismic events in China. Science, 303, 1176–1178.
Schaff, D.P. and Richards, P.G., 2004b, Lg-wave cross correlation and double-difference location: application to the 1999 Xiuyan, China, sequence. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 94, 867–879.
Schaff, D.P. and Waldhauser, F., 2005, Waveform cross-correlationbased differential travel-time measurements at the Northern California Seismic Networks. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 95, 2446–2461.
Shelly, D.R., Beroza, G.C., Ide, S., and Nakamula, S., 2006, Low-frequency earthquakes in Shikoku, Japan, and their relationship to episodic tremor and slip. Nature, 442, 188–191.
Shelly, D.R., Ellsworth, W.L., Ryberg, T., Haberland, C., Fuis, G.S., Murphy, J., Nadeau R.M., and Burgmann, R., 2009, Precise location of San Andreas Fault tremors near Cholame, California using seismometer clusters: Slip on the deep extension of the fault? Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L01303.
Shelly, D.R. and Hill, D.P., 2011, Migrating swarms of brittle-failure earthquakes in the lower crust beneath Mammoth Mountain, California. Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L20307.
Slinkard, M.E., Carr, D.B., and Young, C.J., 2013, Applying waveform correlation to three aftershock sequences. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 103, 675–693.
Valoroso, L., Chiaraluce, L., Piccinini, D., Di Stefano, R., Schaff, D., and Waldhauser, F., 2013, Radiography of a normal fault system by 64,000 high-precision earthquake locations: the 2009 L’Aquila (central Italy) case study. Journal of Geophysical Research, 118, 1156–1176.
Waldhauser, F., 2001, HypoDD: A program to compute double-difference hypocenter locations. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report, 01–11., 13 p.
Waldhauser, F. and Ellsworth, W.L., 2000, A double-difference earthquake location algorithm: Method and application to the Northern Hayward fault, California. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 90, 1353–1368.
Waldhauser, F. and Ellsworth, W.L., 2002, Fault structure and mechanics of the Hayward fault, California, from double-difference earthquake locations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107, 2054.
Waldhauser, F. and Schaff, D.P., 2008, Large-scale relocation of two decades of northern California seismicity using cross-correlation and double-difference methods. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, B08311.
West, M.E., 2013, Recent eruptions at Bezymianny volcano-A seismological comparison. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 263, 42–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Son, M., Shin, J.S., Kim, G. et al. Epicenter relocation of two 2013 earthquake sequences in the Yellow Sea, Korea, using travel-time double-differences and Lg-wave cross-correlation. Geosci J 19, 295–303 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-014-0038-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-014-0038-2