1-D velocity model for the North Korean Peninsula from Rayleigh wave dispersion of ambient noise cross-correlations

Monitoring seismic activity in the north Korean Peninsula (NKP) is important not only for understanding the characteristics of tectonic earthquakes but also for monitoring anthropogenic seismic events. To more effectively investigate seismic properties, reliable seismic velocity models are essential. However, the seismic velocity structures of the region have not been well constrained due to a lack of available seismic data. This study presents 1-D velocity models for both the inland and offshore (western East Sea) of the NKP. We constrained the models based on the results of a Bayesian inversion process using Rayleigh wave dispersion data, which were measured from ambient noise cross-correlations between stations in the southern Korean Peninsula and northeast China. The proposed models were evaluated by performing full moment tensor inversion for the 2013 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear test. Using the composite model consisting of both inland and offshore models resulted in consistently higher goodness of fit to observed waveforms than previous models. This indicates that seismic monitoring can be improved by using the proposed models, which resolve propagation effects along different paths in the NKP region.