Lg Attenuation near the North Korean Border with China, Part I: Model Development from Regional Earthquake Sources

Abstract

We have collected broadband data from three seismic networks—two portable and one permanent—in a remote part of northeast China bordering North Korea. The combined network coverage allows first-hand investigations of seismic- wave propagation in a region of import for nuclear test ban monitoring research. Application of the reversed two-station method to the newly acquired data has pro- duced stable measurements of the quality factor Q ( Q0f η ) for Lg waves. The re- sults, a weighted regional average over 23 interstation paths involving 51 events and 21 stations, point to 1 Hz Q (or Q0) of 345 and η of 0.38 in a jarring incongruity with what appears to be a popular perception of the region as being of very low attenuation for Lg waves. The results also show that Lg Q varies from one interstation path to another. The highest Lg-wave attenuation (110 <Q 0 < 140) is found along intersta- tion paths that crossed two recently active volcanoes (Huangyishan and Chang- baishan). The subregion exhibiting the next highest Lg attenuation is Bohai, an extensional basin known to feature above-average heat flow.