Seismic detection of strong ground motions by MW5.6 North Korean nuclear explosion.

The North Korean nuclear explosion test site in Punggye-ri is located in a seismically quiescent region on a stable Precambrian basement. The 3 September 2017 MW5.6 North Korean underground nuclear explosion (UNE) test produced unprecedented strong ground motions. The peak ground accelerations might reach tens to hundreds m/s2 on the surface of the UNE test site, decaying exponentially with distance. Ten shallow events with magnitudes greater than or equal to ML2.5 and source depths less than 3 km followed the 2017 UNE for 5 months in an area with a radius of 15 km from the UNE where strong ground shaking was experienced. The largest event with MW3.7 occurred 20 days after the 2017 UNE test at shallow depths less than 3 km. Its moment tensor solution indicates a combined source behavior with comparable strengths of double-couple and compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) components, suggesting an unusual event different from typical natural earthquakes in the Korean Peninsula. The clustered shallow seismic events appeared to have occurred in damaged media that were effectively perturbed by the strong ground motions of the UNE.

Time-advanced occurrence of moderate-size earthquakes in a stable intraplate region after a megathrust earthquake and their seismic properties.

The distance-dependent coseismic and postseismic displacements produced by the 2011 MW9.0 Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake caused medium weakening and stress perturbation in the crust around the Korean Peninsula, increasing the seismicity with successive ML5-level earthquakes at the outskirts of high seismicity regions. The average ML5-level occurrence rate prior to the megathrust earthquake was 0.15 yr-1 (0.05-0.35 yr-1 at a 95% confidence level), and the rate has increased to 0.71 yr-1 (0.23-1.67 yr-1 at a 95% confidence level) since the megathrust earthquake. The 2016 ML5-level midcrustal earthquakes additionally changed the stress field in adjacent regions, inducing the 15 November 2017 ML5.4 earthquake. The successive 2016 and 2017 moderate-size earthquakes built complex stress fields in the southeastern Korean Peninsula, increasing the seismic hazard risks in the regions of long-term stress accumulation. The increased seismic risks may continue until the medium properties and stress field are recovered.

Bayesian brain source imaging based on combined MEG/EEG and fMRI using MCMC.

A number of brain imaging techniques have been developed in order to investigate brain function and to develop diagnostic tools for various brain disorders. Each modality has strengths as well as weaknesses compared to the others. Recent work has explored how multiple modalities can be integrated effectively so that they complement one another while maintaining their individual strengths. Bayesian inference employing Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques provides a straightforward way to combine disparate forms of information while dealing with the uncertainty in each. In this paper we introduce methods of Bayesian inference as a way to integrate different forms of brain imaging data in a probabilistic framework. We formulate Bayesian integration of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data by incorporating fMRI data into a spatial prior. The usefulness and feasibility of the method are verified through testing with both simulated and empirical data.