The Estimated Source of 2017 Pohang Earthquake Using Surface Deformation Modeling Based on Multi-Frequency InSAR Data

Abstract

An earthquake occurred on 17 November 2017 in Pohang, South Korea with a strength of 5.4 Mw. This is the second strongest earthquake recorded by local authorities since the equipment was first installed. In order to improve understanding of earthquakes and surface deformation, many studies have been conducted according to these phenomena. In this research, we will estimate the surface deformation using the Okada model equation. The SAR images of three satellites with different wavelengths (ALOS-2, Cosmo SkyMed and Sentinel-1) were used to produce the interferogram pairs. The interferogram is used as a reference for surface deformation changes by using Okada to determine the source of surface deformation that occurs during an earthquake. The Non-linear optimization (Levemberg-Marquadrt algorithm) and Monte Carlo restart was applied to optimize the fault parameter on modeling process. Based on the modeling results of each satellite data, the fault geometry is ~6 km length, ~2 km width and ~5 km depth. The root mean square error values in the surface deformation model results for Sentinel, CSK and ALOS are 0.37 cm, 0.79 cm and 1.47 cm, respectively. Furthermore, the results of this modeling can be used as learning material in understanding about seismic activity to minimize the impacts that arise in the future.