Enhanced hypocenter determination of the 2017 Pohang earthquake sequence, South Korea, using a 3-D velocity model

Abstract

© 2022, The Association of Korean Geoscience Societies and Springer.As a fundamental task in observational seismology, accurate hypocenter determination is crucial for seismic hazard analysis, delineating faults, and elucidating seismic source characteristics. However, hypocenters determined using an inaccurate velocity model can exhibit significant deviations from the actual hypocenter. In this study, we investigated how a 3-D velocity model results in a better constraint than a 1-D model for the hypocenter determination problem associated with the 2017 MW 5.5 Pohang earthquake. This study determined the hypocenter of the Pohang earthquake sequence using a 3-D velocity model of 32 events including the mainshock that occurred on November {vn15}, 2017, in South Korea. The S wave velocity model, based on an ambient noise tomography, was combined with the average Vp/Vs ratio of the crust of the Korean Peninsula to construct a 3-D velocity model; additional 1-D velocity model was used to compare the results. The hypocenters were determined via a nonlinear method, which allowed the calculation of the posterior probability density of the source via a direct search method, confirming that the accuracy improved when using the 3-D model compared with the 1-D model. We observed that our 3-D velocity model enables hypocenters to be consistently determined, less affected by station configuration, or a lack of adjacent seismic stations. Further numerical investigation showed that complex basin geometry and the heterogeneity of the crustal thickness, which cannot be considered in 1-D model, are critical for hypocenter determination.