Combining double-difference relocation with regional depth-phase modelling to improve hypocentre accuracy

Precise and accurate earthquake hypocentres are critical for various fields, such as the study of tectonic process and seismic-hazard assessment. Double-difference relocation methods are widely used and can dramatically improve the precision of event relative locations. In areas of sparse seismic network coverage, however, a significant trade-off exists between focal depth, epicentral location and the origin time. Regional depth-phase modelling (RDPM) is suitable for sparse networks and can provide focal-depth information that is relatively insensitive to uncertainties in epicentral location and independent of errors in the origin time. Here, we propose a hybrid method in which focal depth is determined using RDPM and then treated as a fixed parameter in subsequent double-difference calculations, thus reducing the size of the system of equations and increasing the precision of the hypocentral solutions. Based on examples using small earthquakes from eastern Canada and southwestern USA, we show that the application of this technique yields solutions that appear to be more robust and accurate than those obtained by standard double-difference relocation method alone.