Characterisation of seismic events using time-reverse imaging 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Finger ◽  
Erik H. Saenger
Keyword(s):  
Moment Tensor ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Seismic Events ◽  
Origin Time ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Stress Components ◽  
True Source

<p>In addition to stable and accurate hypocenters of seismic events, the characterisation of events is crucial for the investigation of seismicity in the context of geothermal reservoirs, CO2-sequestration and other geotechnical applications. Since the origin and nature of the seismicity in such cases is still under investigation, tools should rely on as few a priori assumptions about the sources as possible. Here, an approach is presented to determine the time-dependent moment tensor and origin time in addition to commonly derived hypocenter locations of seismic events using time-reverse imaging (TRI). The full six component moment tensor is derived and may be used to display for example focal mechanisms. The workflow consists of determining the location of potential sources, discriminating artificial and true source locations and obtaining the time-dependent moment tensors by recording the stress components at the derived source locations. Since TRI does not rely on the identification of seismic phases but on the simulation of the time-reversed wavefield through an adequate velocity model, no assumptions about the source location or the type of source mechanism is made. TRI is less affected by low signal-to-noise ratios and is thus promising for noisier sites and quasi-simultaneous events. However, a sufficient number of seismic stations are needed to accurately sample the wavefield spatially. The proposed workflow is demonstrated by locating and characterising microseismic events in the geothermal field of Los Humeros, Mexico. Although higher levels of noise are present and only a one-dimensional velocity model is available at this time, selected events could be located and characterised.</p>

Determination of the time-dependent moment tensor using time-reverse imaging

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-61
Author(s):  
Claudia Finger ◽  
Erik Saenger
Keyword(s):  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Source Location ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Origin Time ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Velocity Models

An approach is presented to determine the time-dependent moment tensor and the origin time in addition to commonly derived locations of seismic events using time-reverse imaging (TRI). It is crucial to locate and characterize the occurring micro-seismicity without making a priori assumptions about the sources to fully understand the subsurface processes inducing seismicity. Low signal-to-noise ratios often force standard methods to make assumptions about sources or only characterize selected larger-magnitude events. In TRI, micro-earthquakes are located by back propagating the full recorded time-reversed wavefield through a velocity model until it ideally convergences on the source location. Therefore, it is less affected by low signal-to-noise ratios and potentially locates and characterizes most of the events. After distinguishing artificial convergence locations from source locations, the quality of the source location and the moment tensors are derived by recording the stress at the determined source locations during the back propagation of the time-reversed wavefield. A robust workflow is derived using synthetic test cases in a realistic scenario with velocity models that only approximate the true velocity model and/or noisy displacement traces. The influence of a rudimentary velocity model on the source-location accuracy and characterisation is significant. The proposed workflow handles these less-than optimal station distributions and velocity models. Finally, the derived workflow is successfully applied to field data recorded at the geothermal field of Los Humeros, Mexico. Although only a one-dimensional velocity model is currently available, source locations and (time-dependent) moment tensors could be determined for selected events.

Locating and characterizing seismic events in Los Humeros (Mexico) using time-reverse imaging

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Finger ◽  
Erik H. Saenger
Keyword(s):  
Focal Mechanism ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
Seismic Events ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Focal Mechanism Solutions ◽  
Source Type

<p>Locating and characterizing the seismicity in a reservoir is crucial for any geothermal project. This study is the first time that the seismicity in a geothermal reservoir is characterized using time-reverse imaging (TRI). The spatio-temporal distribution of events in combination with focal mechanism solutions may enable the mapping of existing fault networks, the estimation of local stress regimes and the distinction between tectonic and induced events. Combining these results with results from other methodologies will in the future lead to an informed understanding of the physical processes occurring in reservoirs.</p><p>TRI is a method for locating and characterizing seismic events. TRI uses the whole time-reversed waveform and a seismic wave propagation solver to locate and characterize events. Therefore, it does not rely on the identification of seismic events and their onsets in the traces. In contrast to common tools that provide hypocenters and focal mechanism solutions for seismic events, TRI does not assume any a priori knowledge about the sources. Since events are not picked in the seismic traces, no assumption is made about the number of sources recorded in a certain time window. Similarly, the characterization of events does not exclude any source type or put any constraints or assumptions on the sources, such as them being only of double-couple nature. Therefore, TRI may be especially well-suited when the overall type of sources is not known or if it is suspected that common localization and characterization tools are not adequately depicting the physical processes in the subsurface.</p><p>In the first part of this study, seismic events, that occurred in the geothermal field of Los Humeros in Mexico, are located using TRI. So-called sensitivity maps are used to enhance the localization capabilities and to determine the spatial variation in source-location accuracy. In the second part of this study, the located events are characterized by determining the full time-dependent moment tensor. Since no assumption about the source type is made, these moment tensors complement results obtained from more standardized tools.</p>

Moment-tensor solutions for the 24 November 1987 Superstition Hills, California, earthquakes

1989 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-499
Author(s):  
Stuart A. Sipkin
Keyword(s):  
Main Shock ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Origin Time ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Filter Theory ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Seismograph Network ◽  
Scalar Moment

Abstract The teleseismic long-period waveforms recorded by the Global Digital Seismograph Network from the two largest Superstition Hills earthquakes are inverted using an algorithm based on optimal filter theory. These solutions differ slightly from those published in the Preliminary Determination of Epicenters Monthly Listing because a somewhat different, improved data set was used in the inversions and a time-dependent moment-tensor algorithm was used to investigate the complexity of the main shock. The foreshock (origin time 01:54:14.5, mb 5.7, Ms 6.2) had a scalar moment of 2.3 × 1025 dyne-cm, a depth of 8 km, and a mechanism of strike 217°, dip 79°, rake 4°. The main shock (origin time 13:15:56.4, mb 6.0, Ms 6.6) was a complex event, consisting of at least two subevents, with a combined scalar moment of 1.0 × 1026 dyne-cm, a depth of 10 km, and a mechanism of strike 303°, dip 89°, rake −180°.

scholarly journals Moving from 1-D to 3-D velocity model: automated waveform-based earthquake moment tensor inversion in the Los Angeles region

2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Wang ◽  
Zhongwen Zhan
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Real Time System ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Velocity Models ◽  
Double Couple ◽  
The Moment

SUMMARY Earthquake focal mechanisms put primary control on the distribution of ground motion, and also bear on the stress state of the crust. Most routine focal mechanism catalogues still use 1-D velocity models in inversions, which may introduce large uncertainties in regions with strong lateral velocity heterogeneities. In this study, we develop an automated waveform-based inversion approach to determine the moment tensors of small-to-medium-sized earthquakes using 3-D velocity models. We apply our approach in the Los Angeles region to produce a new moment tensor catalogue with a completeness of ML ≥ 3.5. The inversions using the Southern California Earthquake Center Community Velocity Model (3D CVM-S4.26) significantly reduces the moment tensor uncertainties, mainly owing to the accuracy of the 3-D velocity model in predicting both the phases and the amplitudes of the observed seismograms. By comparing the full moment tensor solutions obtained using 1-D and 3-D velocity models, we show that the percentages of non-double-couple components decrease dramatically with the usage of 3-D velocity model, suggesting that large fractions of non-double-couple components from 1-D inversions are artifacts caused by unmodelled 3-D velocity structures. The new catalogue also features more accurate focal depths and moment magnitudes. Our highly accurate, efficient and automatic inversion approach can be expanded in other regions, and can be easily implemented in near real-time system.

Aftershock Analysis of the 2018 Mw 7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, Earthquake: Relocations and Regional Moment Tensors

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia A. Ruppert ◽  
Avinash Nayak ◽  
Clifford Thurber ◽  
Cole Richards
Keyword(s):  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Aftershock Sequence ◽  
Fault Rupture ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
3D Velocity Model ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Alaska Earthquake

Abstract The 30 November 2018 magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake occurred as a result of normal faulting within the lithosphere of subducted Yakutat slab. It was followed by a vigorous aftershock sequence with over 10,000 aftershocks reported through the end of July 2019. The Alaska Earthquake Center produced a reviewed aftershock catalog with a magnitude of completeness of 1.3. This well‐recorded dataset provides a rare opportunity to study the relationship between the aftershocks and fault rupture of a major intraslab event. We use tomoDD algorithm to relocate 2038 M≥2 aftershocks with a regional 3D velocity model. The relocated aftershocks extend over a 20 km long zone between 47 and 57 km depth and are primarily confined to a high VP/VS region. Aftershocks form two clusters, a diffuse southern cluster and a steeply west‐dipping northern cluster with a gap in between where maximum slip has been inferred. We compute moment tensors for the Mw>4 aftershocks using a cut‐and‐paste method and careful selection of regional broadband stations. The moment tensor solutions do not exhibit significant variability or systematic differences between the northern and southern clusters and, on average, agree well with the mainshock fault‐plane parameters. We propose that the mainshock rupture initiated in the Yakutat lower crust or uppermost mantle and propagated both upward into the crust to near its top and downward into the mantle. The majority of the aftershocks are confined to the seismically active Yakutat crust and located both on and in the hanging wall of the mainshock fault rupture.

scholarly journals Seismic Moment Tensor Solutions from GeoNet Data to Provide a Moment Magnitude Scale for New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elizabeth de Joux Robertson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Seismic Moment ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Moment Tensor Inversion ◽  
Moment Magnitude ◽  
Seismic Moment Tensor ◽  
Waveform Data ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
The Moment

<p>The aim of this project is to enable accurate earthquake magnitudes (moment magnitude, MW) to be calculated routinely and in near real-time for New Zealand earthquakes. This would be done by inversion of waveform data to obtain seismic moment tensors. Seismic moment tensors also provide information on fault-type. I use a well-established seismic moment tensor inversion method, the Time-Domain [seismic] Moment Tensor Inversion algorithm (TDMT_INVC) and apply it to GeoNet broadband waveform data to generate moment tensor solutions for New Zealand earthquakes. Some modifications to this software were made. A velocity model can now be automatically used to calculate Green's functions without having a pseudolayer boundary at the source depth. Green's functions can be calculated for multiple depths in a single step, and data are detrended and a suitable data window is selected. The seismic moment tensor solution that has either the maximum variance reduction or the maximum double-couple component is automatically selected for each depth. Seismic moment tensors were calculated for 24 New Zealand earthquakes from 2000 to 2005. The Global CMT project has calculated CMT solutions for 22 of these, and the Global CMT project solutions are compared to the solutions obtained in this project to test the accuracy of the solutions obtained using the TDMT_INVC code. The moment magnitude values are close to the Global CMT values for all earthquakes. The focal mechanisms could only be determined for a few of the earthquakes studied. The value of the moment magnitude appears to be less sensitive to the velocity model and earthquake location (epicentre and depth) than the focal mechanism. Distinguishing legitimate seismic signal from background seismic noise is likely to be the biggest problem in routine inversions.</p>

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: Is the Eastern Denali fault still active?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minhee Choi ◽  
David W. Eaton ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Clustering ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Coulomb Stress ◽  
Stress Inversion ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Stress Calculation ◽  
Denali Fault

Catalog of relocated seismicity, table of moment tensor parameters, detailed methodology of the velocity model, hierarchical clustering, moment tensors, stress inversion, Coulomb stress calculation, and Figures S1–S12.<br>

scholarly journals Sensitivity maps for time-reverse imaging: an accuracy study for the Los Humeros Geothermal Field (Mexico)

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-246
Author(s):  
C Finger ◽  
E H Saenger
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Source Location ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
Location Accuracy ◽  
Accurate Localization ◽  
Localization Scheme ◽  
Priori Information ◽  
Initial Source ◽  
Sensitivity Maps

SUMMARY The estimation of the source–location accuracy of microseismic events in reservoirs is of significant importance. Time-reverse imaging (TRI) provides a highly accurate localization scheme to locate events by time-reversing the recorded full wavefield and back propagating it through a velocity model. So far, the influence of the station geometry and the velocity model on the source–location accuracy is not well known. Therefore, sensitivity maps are developed using the geothermal site of Los Humeros in Mexico to evaluate the spatial variability of the source–location accuracy. Sensitivity maps are created with an assumed gradient velocity model with a constant vp–vs ratio and with a realistic velocity model for the region of Los Humeros. The positions of 27 stations deployed in Los Humeros from September 2017 to September 2018 are used as surface receivers. An automatic localization scheme is proposed that does not rely on any a priori information about the sources and thus negates any user bias in the source locations. The sensitivity maps are created by simulating numerous uniformly distributed sources simultaneously and locating these sources using TRI. The found source locations are compared to the initial source locations to estimate the achieved accuracy. The resulting sensitivity maps show that the station geometry introduces complex patterns in the spatial variation of accuracy. Furthermore, the influence of the station geometry on the source–location accuracy is larger than the influence of the velocity model. Finally, a microearthquake recorded at the geothermal site of Los Humeros is located to demonstrate the usability of the derived sensitivity maps. This study stresses the importance of optimizing station networks to enhance the accuracy when locating seismic events using TRI.

Probabilistic Moment Tensor Inversion for Hydrocarbon-Induced Seismicity in the Groningen Gas Field, The Netherlands, Part 1: Testing

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 2095-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Kühn ◽  
Sebastian Heimann ◽  
Marius P. Isken ◽  
Elmer Ruigrok ◽  
Bernard Dost
Keyword(s):  
Input Data ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Moment Tensor Inversion ◽  
Phase Identification ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Velocity Models ◽  
3D Velocity Model ◽  
1D Velocity Model

ABSTRACT Since 1991, induced earthquakes have been observed and linked to gas production in the Groningen field. Recorded waveforms are complex, resulting partly from a Zechstein salt layer overlying the reservoir and partly from free-surface reverberations, internal multiples, interface conversions, guided waves, and waves diving below the reservoir. Therefore, picking of polarities or amplitudes for use in moment tensor inversion is problematic, whereas phase identification may be circumvented employing full waveform techniques. Although moment tensors have become a basic tool to analyze earthquake sources, their uncertainties are rarely reported. We introduce a method for probabilistic moment tensor estimation and demonstrate its use on the basis of a single event within the Groningen field, concentrating on detailed tests of input data and inversion parameters to derive rules of good practice for moment tensor estimation of events recorded in the Groningen field. In addition to the moment tensor, event locations are provided. Hypocenters estimated simultaneously with moment tensors are often less sensitive to uncertainties in crustal structure, which is pertinent for the application to the Groningen field, because the task of relating earthquakes to specific faults hitherto suffers from a limited resolution of earthquake locations. Because of the probabilistic approach, parameter trade-offs, uncertainties, and ambiguities are mapped. In addition, the implemented bootstrap method implicitly accounts for modeling errors affecting every station and phase differently. A local 1D velocity model extracted from a full 3D velocity model yields more consistent results than other models applied previously. For all velocity models and combinations of input data tested, a shift in location of 1 km to the south is observed for the test event compared to the public catalog. A full moment tensor computed employing the local 1D velocity model features negative isotropic components and may be interpreted as normal fault and collapse at reservoir level.

Optimization of the fault plane and coseismic slip from tide-gauge data for the 2nd May 2020 Ierapetra, Crete, Earthquake (Mw 6.6) and the associated tsunami

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Baglione ◽  
Alessandro Amato ◽  
Beatriz Brizuela ◽  
Hafize Basak Bayraktar ◽  
Stefano Lorito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Moment Tensor ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Source Parameters ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Tsunami Source ◽  
Coseismic Slip ◽  
Moment Tensors ◽  
Tsunami Early Warning ◽  
Oblique Convergence

&lt;p&gt;We present a tsunami source solution for the 2nd May 2020, Mw 6.6 earthquake that occurred about 80 km offshore south of Crete on the shallow portion of the Hellenic Arc Subduction Zone (HASZ). This earthquake generated a small local tsunami recorded by the Ierapetra tide gauge on Crete island's southern coast. We used these single-marigram data to constrain the main features of the causative rupture. We modelled synthetic tsunami waveforms and measured their misfits with the observed data for each set of source parameters, scanned systematically around the values constrained by some of the available moment tensors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the attempts to discriminate between the two auxiliary fault planes of the moment tensor solutions, our results identify a shallow highly-dipping back-thrust fault as the source of this earthquake with the lower misfit. However, a rupture on a lower angle fault, possibly a splay fault of the subduction interface, with a sinistral component due to the oblique convergence on this segment of the HASZ, cannot be ruled out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These results are relevant in the framework of the tsunami hazard assessments and Tsunami Early Warning Systems. In these frameworks, in addition to the subduction interface and possible ruptures on splay faults, other rupture types, such as those on secondary structures of the considered subduction system, cannot be excluded a priori. This circumstance bears important consequences because, as well as splay faulting, back thrust faulting might enhance the tsunamigenic potential where the subduction itself is less tsunamigenic due to the oblique convergence.&lt;/p&gt;

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