Relocation of the Ms≥2.0 Earthquakes in the Northern Tianshan Region, Xinjiang, Using the Double-Difference Earthquake Relocation Algorithm

We applied the double-difference earthquake relocation algorithm to 1348 earthquakes with M_S≥2.0 that occurred in the northern Tianshan region, Xinjiang, from April 1988 to June 2003, using a total of 28701 P- and S-wave arrival times recorded by 32 seismic stations in Xinjiang. Aiming to obtain most of these M_S≥2.0 earthquakes relocations, and considering the requirements of the DD method and the condition of data, we added the travel time data of another 437 earthquakes with 1.5≤M_S<2.0. Finally, we obtained the relocation results for 1253 earthquakes with M_S≥2.0, which account for 93% of all the 1348 earthquakes with M_S≥2.0 and includes all the M_S≥3.0 earthquakes. The reason for not relocating the 95 earthquakes with 2.0≤M_S<3.0 is analyzed in the paper. After relocation, the RMS residual decreased from 0.83s to 0.14s, the average error is 0.993 km in E-W direction, 1.10 km in N-S direction, and 1.33 km in vertical direction. The hypocenter depths are more convergent than before and distributed from 5 km to 35 km, with 94% being from 5km to 35 km, 68.2% from 10 km to 25 km. The average hypocenter depth is 19 km.