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Title: Relative surface wave amplitude and phase anomalies from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced nuclear tests

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074577· OSTI ID:1413175

Here, we performed relative locations of six event pairs based on surface wave (SW) and body wave (BW) differential traveltimes of the 9 September 2016, 6 January 2016, 12 February 2013, and 25 May 2009 announced North Korea nuclear explosions. The SW relative locations for the 25 May 2009 and 12 February 2013 events were inconsistent with the BWs when paired with other events, and only the 6 January 2016/9 September 2016 pair was consistent. Apparent SW phase shift is investigated with respect to the BW relative locations. The pairs formed with the 25 May 2009 and 12 February 2013 events, beneath the southeast slope of Mount Mant'ap, have the largest phase shifts and amplitude ratio deviations, whereas the least deviation was from the 6 January 2016 and 9 September 2016 event pair beneath the mountain peak. Regional moment tensors (MTs) predict the amplitude ratios but do not resolve the relative phase. We find that MTs with 10% difference in isotropic and rotated +CLVD can fit both relative phase and amplitude ratios. SW relative locations of highly isotropic and correlated explosion clusters can be affected by topography and small differences in MT.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1413175
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-733042; TRN: US1800416
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 17; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (12)

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