Three-dimensional velocity structure around the focal area of the 2021 MS6.4 Yangbi earthquake

On May 21,2021,an MS6.4 earthquake occurred in Yangbi,Yunnan province,China,which exhibited typical foreshock-mainshock-aftershock characteristics.To better understand the velocity structure of the focal area and adjacent fault zones,Pg/Sg travel times at 12 seismic stations for the local earthquakes with ML≥1.5 from 2009-2019 and the Yangbi sequence in May of 2021 were used to invert the three-dimensional(3D)structures for both vP and v_(P)/v_(S).The obtained structure extends deeply to 15 km for area(25°N-26.5°N,99.5°E-101°E)at a horizontal resolution of 10×10 km,and the accuracy of the v_(P) velocity was verified using airgun signals excited by the Binchuan Airgun Transmitting Seismic Station(BATSS).The resulting v_(P) and v^(P)/v_(S) images correlate with existing fault zones and the Yangbi sequence,including:(1)The shallow velocity structure at 0 km agrees with local topography,where the Binchuan basin exhibits low-v_(P) and high-v_(P)/v_(S) values.From 3-15 km,v_(P) and v_(P)/v_(S) show variations,and the boundaries are consistent with the main faults(e.g.,the Weixi-Qiaohou-Weishan,Honghe,and Chenghai faults).(2)The largest foreshock(M_(S)5.6),main-shock(MS6.4),and largest aftershock(M_(S)5.2)occurred near the boundaries where both vP and v_(P)/v_(S) have clear contrasts.(3)Small earthquakes are also concentrated in the transition zone between high-and low-vP and v_(P)/v_(S) anomalies,and are biased toward low-v_(P)/v_(S) zones.(4)Boundaries in v_(P) and v_(P)/v_(S) are observed at 20 km west of the Weixi-Qiaohou-Weishan fault,indicating that there may exist one hidden fault.