Source parameters of the May 29, 2004 South Korea earthquake (ML 5.2)

Abstract

A moderate earthquake with local magnitude 5.2 (ML) occurred off the eastern coast of South Korea on May 29, 2004. This earthquake is one of the largest events near the Korean Peninsula since 1978 when instrumental observations began by the Korea Meteorological Administration. We carried out modeling of regional waveforms and deconvolutions using empirical Green functions to estimate source parameters. The results of the regional waveform modeling show a reverse fault mechanism with a hypocentral depth of 8 km and seismic moment of 5x1016 N-m, which is equivalent to Mw 5.1. Performing the empirical Green function deconvolution, we estimated a fault radius of 1.1 to 1.4 km and an average stress drop of 13.5 MPa, assuming an east dipping fault plane. Assuming a west dipping fault plane, we estimated a fault radius of 1.3 to 2.9 km and an average stress drop of 6.6 MPa. © 2005, The Seismological Society of Japan, Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, The Volcanological Society of Japan, The Geodetic Society of Japan, The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences. All rights reserved.