Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 30(1982)161168 161

Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam Printed in The Netherlands

The refinement of hypocenter parameters on the basis of

three-dimensional velocity models of focal zones
L.B. Slavina 1 and N.B. Pivovarova2
/ Institute of Physics of the Earth, Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Moscow (U.S.S.R.)
2 Computation Center of Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S. R., Krasnoyarsk (U.S.S.R.)

(Received February 26, 1982; revision accepted June 17, 1982)

Slavina, L.B. and Pivovarova, N.B., 1982. The refinement of hypocenter parameters on the basis of three-dimensional
velocity models of focal zones. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 30: 161168.

A complex approach to the processing of seismological data to determine hypocenter coordinates and to construct
three-dimensional velocity fields of focal zones is considered.
The iterative process includes the determination of focal coordinates under the assumption of a laterally homoge-
neous medium, the construction of a three-dimensional velocity model, and subsequent redefinition of the focal
coordinates taking into account the inhomogeneous structure of the medium.
The principal results of calculations of three-dimensional velocity fields and refined earthquake hypocenters are
presented for focal zones in Vrancea (Carpathians), the Caucasus, and Kamchatka.

1. Introduction sional velocity models of the medium from earth-

In the last few years, much evidence has been
obtained of heterogeneous velocity structure in the
Earth. Great lateral and vertical heterogeneities
have been found in both the crust and the upper
mantle. In most previous studies an approximation
of the medium by a one-dimensional velocity
model, with velocity varying only with depth z, has
been used in the construction of travel-time curves
and in the determination of earthquake hypo-
center parameters~Such a representation of the
medium does not agree with real data. The con-
struction of two-dimensional velocity models from
seismic data (Engdahl, 1973; Slavina and Fedotov,
1974; Boldyrev, 1976; Engdahl et al., 1976; En-
gdahl and Lee, 1976) as well as from deep seismic
sounding (DSS) profiles approximates velocity
variations either in the plane V(x, y) (Slavina and
Fedotov, 1974; Boldyrev, 1976) or along the pro-
file V(x, z) (Ermakov et al., 1975). In view of these
data, methods for the calculation of three-dimen-
quake observations (Anikanov et al., 1974; Aki et
a!., 1977) are of special interest.
In recent years, systems of seismic recording
stations have been developed extensively in all
seismic areas. The increase in the number of sta-
tions and their sensitivity has resulted in the accu-
mulation of a great body of information. With
modern methods for the recording and mass-
processing of weak-earthquake data, first arrival
times for P and S waves may be determined relia-
bly.
The present paper considers algorithms for
processing P wave arrival times recorded by local
seismic networks to obtain data for hypocenter
coordinates and at the same time to construct
regional velocity models; it describes an algorithm
and the principal characteristics of a procedure for
the calculation of three-dimensional velocity fields
for P waves in concentrated source areas, i.e., in
focal zones.
The study of the velocity structure of areas of

003l-920l/82/0000_0000/$02.75 1982 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company

162

earthquake occurrence is very important both in
solving questions of the mechanism of earthquake
generation and in predicting strong earthquakes in
place and time.
2. Formulation of the method
The travel times t~,of P waves from a system of
sources M~(x~,y1, z,) to a system of stations
M1(x~,y,,z1) serve as the initial information for
the calculations. In this method, origin time is
determined from the arrival times of P and S
waves by procedures that are insensitive to the
velocity structure of the medium.
By definition,
lii =J dS/V(x,y, z)
y( M, . M,)
where y( M~,M,.) is the seismic ray connecting sta-
tion and source M, in a medium with a velocity
V(x,y, z). The problem posed is to define the
velocity structure of the medium and the coor-
dinates of the hypocenters M~.
The algorithm attempts a solution by an itera-
tive procedure, comprising successively the de-
termination of source coordinates under the as-
sumption of a laterally homogeneous medium, the
construction of a three-dimensional velocity model,
and subsequent redefinition of the locations taking
into account the inhomogeneous structure of the
medium (Fig. 1).
The iterative
forward problem.process includes solution
The relationships ofDSS
V( z) from the
data, or from regional models constructed on the
basis of geophysical data, may be used as one-di-
mensional laterally homogeneous starting models
of the medium. In so doing, both the one-dimen-
sional travel-time curve for the entire region, un-
der the assumption of lateral homogeneity, and
areal travel-time curves that allow for the relative
positions of the source and station in different
velocity blocks (i.e., a laterally inhomogeneous
medium) are calculated.
The coordinates of the hypocenter are de-
termined by a conventional procedure consisting
of the minimisation of the sum of relative residuals
between the observed and theoretical travel times.
In estimating focal depth, near stations are given
greater weight because they record S waves more
accurately.
Better results for the hypocenter parameters
q, A, h of near earthquakes are derived for a given
fixed t~(origin time). When estimating the param-
eters t~and h simultaneously, q and A can vary
slightly while the RMS errors remain the same,
which leads to difficulties in the choice of a true
solution. For a fixed t~,the parameters p and A
are usually little biased, and the focal depth h
found is that which yields minimal travel-time
residuals. The algorithm used for the determina-
tion of origin time t0 (Slavina and Epstein, 1982) is
designed to allow for distortion of the Wadati
curve at large values of and for the possibility
of different phase recordings. In the coordinate
system 1~, 7, all7~_~possible straight
= 0) in lines intersect-
the vicinity of the
ing the
point axis ( through various pairs of points.
t~are drawn

initial data
t~= traveL times
I
,.~of
Refinement
hypocenter p4
Three-dimensional
velocity field
Calculation of
residuals to
of seismic waves parameters standard traveL-
time curve

1st approximation Modelsi Model of 2nd approximation

of DSS
1 medium

Fig. 1. Block diagram of program system for determination of hypocenters and construction of velocity field of medium.
 163

Then the distribution of the intercepts on the Mj Mj

T~_~ = 0 axis is analysed and the mode of this ////

distribution, i.e., a point of accumulation, is sought.

The process is iterative; it includes rejection of
S
points which lie beyond the standard deviation
from an average value. At the next stage, an
S
inverse kinematic problem is solved, i.e., the retrie-
val and construction of a velocity field on the basis . \ /
of the hypocenter parameters and the resulting Mo G
travel times. .
Mi ~
\Mi
Mi

3. Determination of the three-dimensional veloci~ 2 ~

model

It is well known that recovery of the velocity Fig. 2. Diagram illustrating algorithm for calculation of veloc-
field is ambiguous if sources and stations are on ity: M
0, M~,hypocenters of earthquakes; M~,seismic stations;
the same plane (Gerver and Markushevich, 1965, G, region of averaging of velocity 1~,,;S, front of inverse wave.

1967). In the method under consideration, the

sources fill a three-dimensional region, permitting
unambiguous recovery of the velocity field. The where M0(x0,y0,z0) is the centre of the region G,
problem of velocity determination amounts to an i.e., a point defining the position of this region (see
approximation of t~ data on the basis of familiar Fig. 2). The inner radius of the shell is selected
formulas relating the travel time of a wave and its with allowance for errors in measurements and in
velocity (Eikonal equation): hypocenter location. The procedure has been de=
~ 2 / Fit ~2 / ~ 2 2(x, ~ z,) scribed
The problem
in detail amounts
in an earlier
to minimisation
paper (Pivovarova
of the
~ + ~ + ~ = l/V and Slavina, 1981).
Using the symmetry property of the functions function Ma and subsequent determination of
with respect to exchange of the points M, and ~ (~
+ B~+
j%1,, consider the datum as the travel time of an
inverse wave from point M~to point M,. In such a mm M = mm [~(AJ(XI x
0) + B(y yo)
case, the travel times of a wave S from a system of A,,B1,CJ ~ AJBJ,CJ
sources in a limited region G to a fixed station M1
describe different positions of the inverse wave- + c~
( ~, z0) +

front propagating from the station M~.in a half- 2+ ~2 1/J~.)2]

space ~ 0.the
front zand Recovery
velocityofofthethe
position
inverseofwave
the wave-
in a +a(A~+ B
hypocentral region is equivalent to the determina-
tion of the propagation velocity of a seismic signal where A~= cos a~/J~ B~= cos a~/J~. C~=
in the direction to the station M~(Fig. 2). cos a~/J~a~a~~ are the direction cosines to
The wavefront is recovered from experimental the inverse wavefront in a region of sources; V~is
data for a region G whose linear dimensions are the desired propagation velocity of the wavefront
small compared with the distance to the source: in the region G; M
0(x0,y0, z0) is the centre of the
2 region
the region;
G; J~
andisa the
is a average
parameter
P-wave
for regularisation.
velocity over
G = {M,(x, ,y,, 2z.): r~1~
~ (x, x0)
2~~r2
~
The second term in the function Ma serves to
+ (ye y~) + (z, z

0) max) regularise it. Its introduction is required because of

164
the poor conditioning of the problem on numerical
differentiation; in practice, it involves the use of
an average regional velocity in the algorithm. The
regularisation parameter a is proportional to the
square of the dispersion of the experimental data
and is chosen in the process of studying model
problems.
It should be noted that the procedure is dif-
ferential (unlike integral solutions); use is made
only of differences of experimental times t,~ t0~
for waves travelling from near sources in the re-
gion G to a station Mi.. This excludes the influence
of peculiarities of crustal structure beneath a given
station and of bias in the source coordinates.
The problem is solved only for regions in which
earthquake sources are concentrated. The range of
depths is thus restricted by the depths of earth-
quakes occurring in a particular region. Hence, for
the vrancea area (Carpathians) and for
Kamchatka, this depth interval is mainly from 30
to 180 km, and for the Caucasus zone it is that
corresponding to the crust and upper levels of the
mantle. A nonlinear problem is solved,
The procedure for the minimisation of Ma is
performed for data corresponding to each station;
the resulting values are averaged:
N Vrancea and Kamchatka.
V(x0,y0,z0) = ~
The average value V(x0,y0, z0) is referred to the
centre of the region G, i.e., to the point M0 it is
an average of a true distribution over the region
volume, and takes into account its regularities in
the case of a medium having a small velocity
gradient. The procedure adopted for deriving V is
repeated for other sources; as a result, a set of
velocity values at points of earthquake foci is
derived. It follows that if a hypocenter is isolated,
so that there are no other nearby sources in the
region G, then the velocity cannot be determined
by this procedure.
In order to develop a single-velocity model of a
region and calculate rays it is required that the
values derived be smoothed over an even, three-di-
mensional lattice. This is performed by the use of
two-dimensional smoothing splines (Pivovarova
and Pukhnacheva, 1975) to average the velocity
field over various depth ranges. This method yields
values of the seismic wave velocity at points in an
even, three-dimensional lattice.
Calculations using the above-described algo-
rithm can provide contour maps of the velocity
field over different depth ranges, two-dimensional
sections in any direction of a focal zone, and
one-dimensional relationships V( z) in individual
blocks.
As an example, we here present results for
various seismic zones, both in the crust and in the
mantle.
Figure 3 shows a contour map at a depth of 5
km for the Caucasus region (a crustal focal zone).
Isolines and hatching indicate the velocity field in
terms of various velocity ranges. The field is seen
to be inhomogeneous. Regions of high and low
velocity are distinguishable. It is interesting that
the morphological characteristics of the field and
the directions of the isolines reflect the tectonic
plan of more ancient deep levels, rather than the
principal geomorphological structures of the
Caucasus Major. It is also interesting that strong
earthquakes are associated mainly with zones of
higher velocity (Slavina and Pivovarova, 1982).
As examples for mantle focal zones, we present
the results of calculations for the focal zones of
For the Carpathians, both contour maps and
sections across and along the zone are obtained.
The most interesting section is that which de-
scribes the zone from SW to NE (Fig. 4)
(Kondorskaya et al., 1980). The zone is seen to be
inhomogeneous with relation to velocity. Vertical
zonality of the field is apparent, with higher values
in the NE part of the zone and lower ones in the
SW part. The hypocenters of the strong earth-
quakes (particularly those of 1940 and 1974) are
associated with the boundary between the higher-
velocity and lower-velocity zones.
For the Kamchatka zone, the two-dimensional
section along the focal zone (Fig. 5) is the most
interesting. The zone is seen to be heterogeneous;
its two-plane construction is apparent. From the
vertical section (Fig. 5), it can be seen that lower-
ing of the boundary of the low-velocity region is
accompanied by an increase of the high-velocity
region below. Regions of low velocity at depths
less than 100 km beneath the peninsulas are under-
 165

44~ Za5km
5.2 ~ .0
5.6
5.2 .

OR
6.0 .

w .54,

KR

4S 0 I

Lii _i~ II
52~7
/ .. . ERE
. 4.4

5.6 . ,~\

4.8~ .1
6. ~ /

6.0--- 1 ..--.-. ~,

A..__ 2
-. 3

38~ p

4cr 50
Fig. 3. Contour maps of three-dimensional velocity field at a depth of 5 km for the Caucasus region: I, velocity isolines; 2, zones of
Caucasus Major; 3, zones of depression.

SW NE
A B

lain by regions of higher velocity at depths greater

than 110
lously highkm.
andThe
lowboundary
velocities,between
at depthsthe
of anoma-
100

90 V 110 km, corresponds to zones of melting basaltic

100 V ~ ~7 magma. It is at these depths that a number of
110 IHHI ~ Kamchatkas strong earthquakes have occurred
120 IHH H LI~~~I (for instance, the earthquake of November, 1971).
A very important question is that of the stabil-
140 1 ity of the computed velocity field. This question
150

iso ~ Fig. 4. Two-dimensional velocity section and sources for the

170 ~ - ~ 1940 Vrancea focal zone: I, hypocenter of earthquake of November

H km 2 - 4. ~I. 1977 2, hypocenter of earthquake of March 4,

166

C C

0~

c
0
a c
0
Avacha bay ~ Kronotsky bay ~ Kamchatsky bay Kamch. Penins.
S 300 200 100 0 -100 -200 -300 N

Z km

Fig. 5. Two-dimensional velocity section along Kamchatka focal zone.

was thoroughly investigated in an earlier paper
(Pivovarova and Slavina, 1981) using both model
and experimental data. The model and experimen-
tal fields constructed were distorted by introduc-
ing random errors into the travel times and the
source coordinates. The data set thus obtained can
in fact be considered as a possible realisation of
the experimental data-acquisition process.
As an example of such calculations we here
consider three realisations of the stochastic intro-
duction of errors into experimental data for the
Kamchatka focal zone. Using a real data set, ran-
dom errors were introduced into the source coordi-
nates and arrival times, with 0M = 5 km and a1 =
0.2 s, respectively. All the above calculations were
performed and maps of velocities constructed for
three different tests of the process of error intro-
duction. As an example, maps for a depth of 80
km are presented here (Fig. 6). Regions corre-
sponding to different ranges of velocity, with a
spacing of 0.2 km s ~, are indicated by different
hatching. It is seen that zones having the same
velocity are somewhat shifted for the three realisa-
lions, but that the salient features of the velocity
fields typical of all three figures are easily dis-
tinguishable. For these regions the calculations can
be considered to be stable. Among them are zones
of high velocity in Kamchatka, Kronotsky and
Avachinsky Bays. A zone of low velocity in the
Shipunsky Peninsula region is also stable on all
the maps. However, the results for the southern
part of the K.ronotsky Bay region (its eastern part)
should be noted. The velocity varies from figure to
figure, i.e., its determination is unstable in this
region.
Thus, it may be concluded that the introduction
 167

H 80Km

Ni N2 83

~ ~

/
_______ 1II?1it~11
~..

..
8:0

::;;:~ii~((fLTh~
[j~~j i.e -~

!: ~i

4 i.l~
?1,6

_______ S I

IS ~

o~-4 25 50
l~ :11
75 100

~v.u7.5 (~ 7.0~V<7.8 ~ ~~
Fig. 6. Contour maps of three-dimensional velocity fields for the Kamchatka region (H = 80 km). Three results of a stochastic process
0M = 5 km. Hatching shows limits of variations of velocity Vi,, solid lines are
for introducing errors into real data: a~
= 0.2 s and
isolines of velocity.

of random error into real experimental data per- medium to be taken into account and source coor-
mits the principal regularities of the velocity field dinates to be determined without considerably
to be determined, complicating the hypocenter coordinate de-
In order to use the three-dimensional velocity termination algorithm.
model obtained to refine source coordinates, calcu- An algorithm for the construction of a seismic
lations are made of a three-dimensional field of ray between a source and a receiver in a medium
corrections to the standard travel-time curve, at- having a continuously varying three-dimensional
tributed to the heterogeneity of the medium. The velocity field has been considered by Pivovarova
calculated field of corrections allows peculiarities and Tushko (1982). Simple boundaries, at which
of the revealed three-dimensional structure of the refraction laws are fulfilled, may be easily intro-
168
duced should the need arise.
The problem amounts to the solution of a
boundary-value problem for a system of three
nonlinear differential equations of second order
(ray equations), which is solved numerically by
minimisation of a certain auxiliary function. The
algorithm may be applied in the case of an arbi-
trary analytical dependence of velocity on the
coordinates. Theoretical travel times of P waves in
a three-dimensional heterogeneous medium are
calculated using the algorithm described. Next, a
field of residuals is calculated for each seismic
station at points in an even, three-dimensional
lattice. The hypocenter parameters are then re-
fined through use of the residual fields, and the
new time residuals obtained are analysed. Upon
refining the hypocenter parameters, the three-di-
mensional velocity field is redetermined.
Thus, the iterative cycle, including the de-
termination of the hypocenter parameters and the
block structure of the medium, is completed.
4. Summary
A complex approach to the processing of seis-
mological data to determine hypocenter coordi-
nates and to construct three-dimensional velocity
fields has been described. The velocity field has
been obtained for focal zones of different con-
struction, and the question of its stability has been
considered. Consideration has been given to the
question of taking into account a heterogeneous
block structure of the medium in the determina-
tion of earthquake hypocenters.
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