Resolving Multi‐Stage Rupture Process of the 2021 M_w 4.9 Offshore Jeju Island Earthquake From Relative Source Time Functions

Abstract

We used local P and S waves, and regional Lg waves to investigate the Mw 4.9 Offshore Jeju Island earthquake, whose records show evidence of a complex rupture. This earthquake provides a rare window to understand the seismogenesis of moderate‐sized earthquakes on the southern Korea–East China Sea continental shelf. We computed the relative source time functions (RSTFs) by aligning the signals on the origin time of the main and its empirical Green's function (EGF) events, allowing us to use them as differential times of the EGF pair. We determined subevent locations using direct‐wave RSTFs, and captured the rupture variability of the two large subevents using waveform inversion of stacked Lg‐wave RSTFs. The first subevent rupture started by two weak nucleation phases and propagated slowly and bilaterally. Then the second subevent ruptured westward. Our analysis demonstrates that the Lg‐wave train observed at regional distances is useful in investigating detailed slip history.