A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors

Earthquake location is fundamental to seismological research. However, there exists a supply contradiction between seismic location accuracy and the needs of seismological studies. Different studies require varying levels of accuracy in earthquake location. For example, studies on focal mechanisms a...

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Main Authors: Fengxue Zhang, Yu Li, Yiping Chen
Format: Article
Language:zho
Published: Editorial Office of Reviews of Geophysics and Planetary Physics 2025-03-01
Series:地球与行星物理论评
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Online Access:https://www.sjdz.org.cn/en/article/doi/10.19975/j.dqyxx.2024-025
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author Fengxue Zhang
Yu Li
Yiping Chen
author_facet Fengxue Zhang
Yu Li
Yiping Chen
author_sort Fengxue Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Earthquake location is fundamental to seismological research. However, there exists a supply contradiction between seismic location accuracy and the needs of seismological studies. Different studies require varying levels of accuracy in earthquake location. For example, studies on focal mechanisms and crust-mantle structures demand accuracy at the kilometer level, while industrial activities and induced seismicity researches require accuracy at the hundred-meter level. Yet, the accuracy of earthquake locations provided by seismic monitoring networks is only within a few kilometers. Numerous earthquake localization methods have been optimized and improved from different perspectives, but their focuses vary. Overall, existing localization methods have not paid sufficient attention to the accuracy of earthquake positioning. In extensive earthquake localization practices, predecessors have developed several empirical rules for optimizing earthquake position accuracy. These empirical rules not only vary by region but also have specific applicability conditions, and they still need further optimization and refinement. This paper briefly analyzes the various factors influencing the accuracy of earthquake localization and conducts targeted research. It has achieved some progress in earthquake localization algorithms and the quality control of observational data. The study supplements the coupling relationship in earthquake localization by exploring the constraints among the velocity model, hypocenter location, and origin time. Additionally, the paper proposes the use of a stepwise elimination process in the earthquake localization workflow.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2097-1893
language zho
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Editorial Office of Reviews of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
record_format Article
series 地球与行星物理论评
spelling doaj-art-21d24cdb94964d669091a9da20be86b12024-11-15T09:48:52ZzhoEditorial Office of Reviews of Geophysics and Planetary Physics地球与行星物理论评2097-18932025-03-0156218219210.19975/j.dqyxx.2024-0252024-025A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factorsFengxue Zhang0Yu Li1Yiping Chen2Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100081, ChinaInstitute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100081, ChinaInstitute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100081, ChinaEarthquake location is fundamental to seismological research. However, there exists a supply contradiction between seismic location accuracy and the needs of seismological studies. Different studies require varying levels of accuracy in earthquake location. For example, studies on focal mechanisms and crust-mantle structures demand accuracy at the kilometer level, while industrial activities and induced seismicity researches require accuracy at the hundred-meter level. Yet, the accuracy of earthquake locations provided by seismic monitoring networks is only within a few kilometers. Numerous earthquake localization methods have been optimized and improved from different perspectives, but their focuses vary. Overall, existing localization methods have not paid sufficient attention to the accuracy of earthquake positioning. In extensive earthquake localization practices, predecessors have developed several empirical rules for optimizing earthquake position accuracy. These empirical rules not only vary by region but also have specific applicability conditions, and they still need further optimization and refinement. This paper briefly analyzes the various factors influencing the accuracy of earthquake localization and conducts targeted research. It has achieved some progress in earthquake localization algorithms and the quality control of observational data. The study supplements the coupling relationship in earthquake localization by exploring the constraints among the velocity model, hypocenter location, and origin time. Additionally, the paper proposes the use of a stepwise elimination process in the earthquake localization workflow.https://www.sjdz.org.cn/en/article/doi/10.19975/j.dqyxx.2024-025earthquake localizationhypocenter location accuracygrid search localizationobservational data qualitycoupling relationship within localization
spellingShingle Fengxue Zhang
Yu Li
Yiping Chen
A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
地球与行星物理论评
earthquake localization
hypocenter location accuracy
grid search localization
observational data quality
coupling relationship within localization
title A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
title_full A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
title_fullStr A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
title_full_unstemmed A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
title_short A brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
title_sort brief analysis of hypocenter location accuracy and its influencing factors
topic earthquake localization
hypocenter location accuracy
grid search localization
observational data quality
coupling relationship within localization
url https://www.sjdz.org.cn/en/article/doi/10.19975/j.dqyxx.2024-025
work_keys_str_mv AT fengxuezhang abriefanalysisofhypocenterlocationaccuracyanditsinfluencingfactors
AT yuli abriefanalysisofhypocenterlocationaccuracyanditsinfluencingfactors
AT yipingchen abriefanalysisofhypocenterlocationaccuracyanditsinfluencingfactors
AT fengxuezhang briefanalysisofhypocenterlocationaccuracyanditsinfluencingfactors
AT yuli briefanalysisofhypocenterlocationaccuracyanditsinfluencingfactors
AT yipingchen briefanalysisofhypocenterlocationaccuracyanditsinfluencingfactors