scholarly journals Effective Stress Drop of Earthquake Clusters

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 2247-2257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Fischer ◽  
Sebastian Hainzl
1974 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1369-1382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuyuki Abe

Abstract The source process of the Wakasa Bay earthquake (M = 6.9, 35.80°N, 135.76°E, depth 4 km) which occurred near the west coast of Honshu Island, Japan, on March 26, 1963, is studied on the basis of the seismological data. Dynamic and static parameters of the faulting are determined by directly comparing synthetic seismograms with observed seismograms recorded at seismic near and far distances. The De Hoop-Haskell method is used for the synthesis. The average dislocation is determined to be 60 cm. The overall dislocation velocity is estimated to be 30 cm/sec, the rise time of the slip dislocation being determined as 2 sec. The other fault parameters determined, with supplementary data on the P-wave first motion, the S-wave polarization angle, and the aftershocks, are: source geometry, dip direction N 144°E, dip angle 68°, slip angle 22° (right-lateral strike-slip motion with some dip-slip component); fault dimension, 20 km length by 8 km width; rupture velocity, 2.3 km/sec (bilateral); seismic moment, 3.3 × 1025 dyne-cm; stress drop, 32 bars. The effective stress available to accelerate the fault motion is estimated to be about 40 bars. The approximate agreement between the effective stress and the stress drop suggests that most of the effective stress was released at the time of the earthquake.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Danre ◽  
Louis De Barros ◽  
Frédéric Cappa

<p>Fluid injections at depth can trigger seismic swarms and aseismic deformations. Similarly, some natural sequences of seismicity occur clustered in time and space, without a distinguishable mainshock. They are usually interpreted as driven by fluid and/or aseismic processes. Those seismic swarms, natural or injection-induced, present similarities in their behavior, such as a seismic front migration. The effective stress drop, defined as a ratio between seismic moment and cluster size, is also weak for all swarms, when compared to usual earthquakes values. However, the physical processes that drive both types of swarms, and that can explain such similarities are still poorly understood. Here, we propose a mechanical model in which the fluid primarily induces an aseismic slip, which then triggers and drives seismicity within and on the edges of the active zone. This model is validated using a global and precise dataset of 16 swarms, from natural or induced origins, in different geological contexts. Consequently, our measurements of the migration velocity of the seismicity front, and of the effective stress drop for our swarms can be related to the seismic-to-aseismic moment. Using our model, we are then able to compute an estimate of the volume of fluids circulating during natural earthquake swarms, assuming the total moment is related to the volume of fluids. Our study highlights common characteristics and novel insights into the physical processes at play during seismic swarms.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (3) ◽  
pp. 1523-1539
Author(s):  
Lisa Winhausen ◽  
Alexandra Amann-Hildenbrand ◽  
Reinhard Fink ◽  
Mohammadreza Jalali ◽  
Kavan Khaledi ◽  
...  

SUMMARY A comprehensive characterization of clay shale behavior requires quantifying both geomechanical and hydromechanical characteristics. This paper presents a comparative laboratory study of different methods to determine the water permeability of saturated Opalinus Clay: (i) pore pressure oscillation, (ii) pressure pulse decay and (iii) pore pressure equilibration. Based on a comprehensive data set obtained on one sample under well-defined temperature and isostatic effective stress conditions, we discuss the sensitivity of permeability and storativity on the experimental boundary conditions (oscillation frequency, pore pressure amplitudes and effective stress). The results show that permeability coefficients obtained by all three methods differ less than 15 per cent at a constant effective stress of 24 MPa (kmean = 6.6E-21 to 7.5E-21 m2). The pore pressure transmission technique tends towards lower permeability coefficients, whereas the pulse decay and pressure oscillation techniques result in slightly higher values. The discrepancies are considered minor and experimental times of the techniques are similar in the range of 1–2 d for this sample. We found that permeability coefficients determined by the pore pressure oscillation technique increase with higher frequencies, that is oscillation periods shorter than 2 hr. No dependence is found for the applied pressure amplitudes (5, 10 and 25 per cent of the mean pore pressure). By means of experimental handling and data density, the pore pressure oscillation technique appears to be the most efficient. Data can be recorded continuously over a user-defined period of time and yield information on both, permeability and storativity. Furthermore, effective stress conditions can be held constant during the test and pressure equilibration prior to testing is not necessary. Electron microscopic imaging of ion-beam polished surfaces before and after testing suggests that testing at effective stresses higher than in situ did not lead to pore significant collapse or other irreversible damage in the samples. The study also shows that unloading during the experiment did not result in a permeability increase, which is associated to the persistent closure of microcracks at effective stresses between 24 and 6 MPa.


Author(s):  
Serge A. Shapiro ◽  
Carsten Dinske

AbstractSometimes, a rather high stress drop characterizes earthquakes induced by underground fluid injections or productions. In addition, long-term fluid operations in the underground can influence a seismogenic reaction of the rock per unit volume of the fluid involved. The seismogenic index is a quantitative characteristic of such a reaction. We derive a relationship between the seismogenic index and stress drop. This relationship shows that the seismogenic index increases with the average stress drop of induced seismicity. Further, we formulate a simple and rather general phenomenological model of stress drop of induced earthquakes. This model shows that both a decrease of fault cohesion during the earthquake rupture process and an enhanced level of effective stresses could lead to high stress drop. Using these two formulations, we propose the following mechanism of increasing induced seismicity rates observed, e.g., by long-term gas production at Groningen. Pore pressure depletion can lead to a systematic increase of the average stress drop (and thus, of magnitudes) due to gradually destabilizing cohesive faults and due to a general increase of effective stresses. Consequently, elevated average stress drop increases seismogenic index. This can lead to seismic risk increasing with the operation time of an underground reservoir.


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