Spatial and Temporal Changes of Groundwater Level Induced by Thrust Faulting

Changes of groundwater level, ranging from a fall of 11.10 m to a rise of 7.42 m, induced by thrust faulting during the 1999 M_w 7.6, Chi-Chi earthquake have been recorded in 276 monitoring wells in Taiwan. Most coseismic falls appeared near the seismogenic fault as well as other active faults, while coseismic rises prevailed away from the fault. Coseismic groundwater level rises and falls correlated fairly well with hypocentral distance in the vicinity of the thrust fault. We found a major difference of coseismic changes in wells of different depths at most multiple-well stations. The recovery process of coseismic groundwater level changes is associated with the confining condition of the aquifer. Cross-formational flow is likely to play an important role in groundwater level changes after the earthquake. In the hanging wall of the thrust fault, an abnormal decline of groundwater level was observed immediately before the earthquake. The underlying mechanism of the unique preseismic change warrants further investigation.     

Earthquake-related Changes in Groundwater Levels at the Dogo Hot Spring,Japan

The Dogo hot spring, situated in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, is one of the oldest and most famous hot springs in Japan. The groundwater level or discharge at the spring decreased four times during the past eight or nine Nankai earthquakes. These are large interplate earthquakes that have occurred repeatedly in the western part of the Nankai Trough at intervals of 100–200 years since A.D. 684. To clarify the mechanism of these earthquake-related changes in the water level at the spring, we analyzed groundwater-level data recorded at the spring immediately after the 1946 Nankai earthquake and over the period from 1985 to 2006. We detected the other nine postseismic increases in groundwater level and no decreases, except for a large decrease of 11.4 m related to the 1946 Nankai earthquake. The increases were probably caused by ground-shaking, while the decrease was caused by a change in coseismic volumetric strain. These results lead to the following explanation of the recorded earthquake-related changes in the groundwater level at the Dogo hot spring. Both coseismic changes in volumetric strain and ground-shaking can lead to postseismic changes in groundwater pressure. The increase in groundwater pressure arising from ground-shaking is generally greater than the change in pressure associated with changes in coseismic volumetric strain; however, at the time of the Nankai earthquakes, the spring experiences a large increase in coseismic volumetric strain, leading to a considerably larger decrease in the groundwater level than the increase associated with ground-shaking. Therefore, the groundwater level at the Dogo hot spring usually increases at times of relatively large earthquakes, although the groundwater level or discharge decreases in the case of the Nankai earthquakes.     

Groundwater Level Changes in Taiwan Caused by The Wenchuan Earthquake on 12 May 2008

Widespread persistent coseismic groundwater level changes induced by the M _w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake were recorded in 80 wells in Taiwan, located approximately 2,000?km from the epicenter. The timing and magnitude of these changes, ranging from ?40 to +23?cm, have been examined by statistical evaluation. The coseismic fall dominated in the plain area, but in the mountainous area most changes are coseismic rises. Both the coseismic rise and the coseismic fall were observed in wells of different depths at two monitoring stations. The processes of the coseismic changes can be shown by the high-frequency well water level data. Analysis of the 1?Hz water level data and the broadband seismogram revealed that a temporary water level change, ranging from 0.2 to 2.3?cm, occurred at the arrival of high-energy Love waves and Rayleigh waves. However, a water level change of 0.3–6.4?cm occurred in 7–20?min after the passing of high-energy surface waves. It is doubtful that such a change could be induced directly by ground shaking. The cross-formational flow due to fracturing or unclogging of sediment pores was possibly too slow to cause the coseismic change. Further studies are required to understand the mechanism of coseismic groundwater level changes induced by a distant earthquake.     

重庆井网水位水温同震响应特征分析

本文以2008年以来全球范围内发生的5次大地震为例,对重庆井网水位和水温同震响应特征进行了分析,结合井孔水文地质条件和自身观测条件,探讨了不同同震响应现象的可能成因并对其机理进行了探讨。结果表明,水位的记震能力优于水温,水位同震响应形态主要包括上升、下降和振荡三种类型,且同一口井水位对不同地震的响应形态不同;水温的同震响应形态主要包括上升和下降两种类型,其中只有荣昌华江和北碚柳荫井水温对5次地震均有同震响应,且同一口井水温对不同地震的响应形态相同。进一步分析表明,北碚柳荫井水位的同震响应能力优于荣昌华江井水位,北碚柳荫井水位的同震振幅与地震能密度成正比,并给出了其同震变化幅度与地震能量密度的对应关系。最后分别对水位和水温同震响应机理进行了探讨。     

Static Coseismic Geomagnetic Changes Associated with the 2017 MW 6.5 Jiuzhaigou Earthquake

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - Although coseismic geomagnetic signals accompanying seismic waves have been observed previously, static coseismic changes in the geomagnetic field throughout China have...     

汶川地震强余震的电磁同震效应

汶川5.12大地震发生后,在武都汉王地震台及其附近地区布置了2个大地电磁测深点,进行了两期余震序列的地震电磁效应连续监测,共观测到M_s4.0及以上的余震事件35次.通过与汉王强震台的地震记录数据中15个强震记录比较发现,与地震波相对应的地震同震电磁信号存在于所有的电场和磁场记录分量中,它们与地震波到达同步.地震破裂发生时的电磁辐射信号在记录数据中相比地震波达到观测点的电磁信号幅度要小得多,无法从观测数据识别出来.通过分析对比地震位移和同震电磁信号的关系,提出了地震电磁同震信号产生的地震波驱动机理,认为观测系统在地球基本磁场中随地面运动产生了地震同震电磁信号,并从观测的地震振动位移和电磁信号进行了验证.     

天津两井水位同震效应分析

从不同的方位对天津地区两口地震观测专用井记录到的国外7级、国内6级以上的地震进行分析。两口井所处的地理位置、地质结构、井深及其含水层岩性不同,对同一地震的表现形式也不尽相同。通过对比分析,得到井水位对地震的响应特点及几点认识：观测井孔一般对远场大震记录比较灵敏,而对近震及地方震反映不灵敏;井孔水位仪记录的水位波幅与震级、震中距有关;井孔同震效应的能力和井孔对固体潮的反映能力不一致。     

Hydrologic precursors to earthquakes: A review

This review summarizes reports of anomalous flow rates or pressures of groundwater, oil, or gas that have been interpreted as earthquake precursors. Both increases and decreases of pressure and flow rate have been observed, at distances up to several hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter, with precursor times ranging from less than one day to more than one year. Although information that might rule out nontectonic causes does not appear in many published accounts of hydrologic anomalies, several recent studies have critically evaluated the possible influences of barometric pressure, rainfall, and groundwater or oil exploitation. Anomalies preceding the 1976 Tangshan, China, and the 1978 Izu-Oshima-Kinkai, Japan, earthquakes are especially well-documented and worthy of further examination.Among hydrologic precursors, pressure head changes in confined subsurface reservoirs are those most amenable to quantitative interpretation in terms of crustal strain. The response of pressure head to earth tides determines coefficients of proportionality between pressure head and crustal strain. The same coefficients of proportionality should govern the fluid pressure response to any crustal strain field in which fluid flow in the reservoir is unimportant. Water level changes in response to independently recorded tectonic events, such as earthquakes and aseismic fault creep, provide evidence that a calibration based on response to earth tides may be applied to crustal strains of tectonic origin.Several models of earthquake generation predict accelerating stable slip on part of the future rupture plane. If precursory slip has moment less than or equal to that of the impending earthquake, then the coseismic volume strain is an upper bound for precursory volume strain. Although crustal strain can be only crudely estimated from most reported pressure head anomalies, the sizes of many anomalies within 150 kilometers of earthquake epicenters appear consistent with this upper bound. In contrast, water level anomalies at greater epicentral distances appear to be larger than this bound by several orders of magnitude.It is clear that water level monitoring can yield information about the earthquake generation process, but progress higes on better documentation of the data.     

GRACE detection of the medium- to far-field coseismic gravity changes caused by the 2004 MW9.3 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

Large earthquakes cause observable changes in the Earth's gravity field, which have been detected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Since most previous studies focus on the detection of near-field gravity effects, this study provides the results from the medium- to far-field gravity changes caused by the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake that are recorded within GRACE monthly solutions. Utilizing a spherical-earth dislocation model we documented that large-scale signals predominate in the global field of the coseismic gravity changes caused by the earthquake. After removing the near-field effects, the coseismic gravity changes show a negative anomaly feature with an average magnitude of -0.18×10^-8 m·s^-2 in the region ranging ~40° from the epicenter, which is considered as the "medium field" in this study. From the GRACE data released by Center for Space Research from August 2002 to December 2008, we retrieved the large-scale gravity changes smoothed with 3 000 km Gaussian filter. The results show that the coseismic gravity changes detected by GRACE in the medium field have an average of (-0.20€±0.06)×10^-8 m·s^-2, which agrees with the model prediction. The detection confirms that GRACE is sensitive to large-scale medium-field coseismic gravitational effects of mega earthquakes, and also validates the spherical-earth dislocation model in the medium field from the perspective of satellite gravimetry.     

Some isotopic and hydrological changes associated with the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, Taiwan

Abstract   The changes in the isotopic composition of, and the groundwater level in, the Choshui River alluvial fan near the ruptured Chelungpu Fault during and following the 1999 ( M _w = 7.5) Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan are reported. Three aspects of the hydrological changes are noticed. First, following the Chi-Chi earthquake, the lower aquifers beneath the Choshui River fan showed a significant shift in isotopic composition towards that of the surface water in the Choshui River, suggesting enhanced exchanges of water between the river and the groundwater. Second, in some wells, water levels and isotopic compositions in different aquifers converged to the same respective values during the Chi-Chi earthquake, suggesting coseismic exchanges of water between the different aquifers, which implies enhanced permeability due perhaps to the fracturing and breaching of aquitards between the aquifers. Third, the pattern of the coseismic water-level response is distinctly different from that of the shift in the isotopic composition, suggesting that they were produced by different mechanisms.     

重力卫星GRACE检测出2010年智利Mw8.8地震的同震重力变化

本研究通过对重力卫星GRACE观测数据的处理,采用去相关加300 km半径的高斯平滑,成功地提取了2010智利M_w8.8地震所产生的重力变化信号,最大变化幅度达到7 μGal,并且与位错理论计算结果具有较好的一致性.这是继GRACE检测出2004苏门答腊M9.3地震重力变化后的又一个卫星观测地震的例证,说明GRACE具有检测出M<9.0量级地震的能力,为利用GRACE研究地震以及其更广泛的应用提供了可靠的依据.     

Characteristics of coseismic water level changes at Tangshan well for the Wenchuan MS8.0 earthquake and its larger aftershocks

Coseismic water level changes which may have been induced by the Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake and its 15 larger aftershocks (M_S≥?5.4) have been observed at Tangshan well. We analyze the correlation between coseismic parameters (maximum amplitude, duration, coseismic step and the time when the coseismic reach its maximum amplitude) and earthquake parameters (magnitude, well-epicenter distance and depth), and then compare the time when the coseismic oscillation reaches its maximum amplitude with the seismogram from Douhe seismic station which is about 16.3 km away from Tangshan well. The analysis indicates that magnitude is the main factor influencing the induced coseismic water level changes, and that the well-epicenter distance and depth have less influence. M_S magnitude has the strongest correlation with the coseismic water level changes comparing to M_W and M_L magnitudes. There exists strong correlation between the maximum amplitude, step size and the oscillation duration. The water level oscillation and step are both caused by dynamic strain sourcing from seismic waves. Most of the times when the oscillations reach their maximum amplitudes are between S and Rayleigh waves. The coseismic water level changes are due to the co-effect of seismic waves and hydro-geological environments.     

Earthquake precursory research in western Himalaya based on the multi-parametric geophysical observatory data

The opening of cracks and influx of fluids in the dilatancy zone of impending earthquake is expected to induce short-term changes in physical/chemical/hydrological properties during earthquake build-up cycle, which should be reflected in time-varying geophysical fields. With this rationale, eleven geophysical parameters are being recorded in continuous mode at the Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatory (MPGO), in Ghuttu, Garhwal Himalaya, for earthquake precursory research. The critical analysis of various geophysical time series indicates anomalous behavior at few occasions; however, the data is also influenced by many external forces. These external influences are the major deterrent for the isolation of precursory signals. The recent work is focused on the data adoptive techniques to estimate and eliminate effects of solar-terrestrial and hydrological/environmental factors for delimiting the data to identify short-term precursors. Although any significant earthquake is not reported close to the observatory, some weak precursory signals and coseismic changes have been identified in few parameters related to the occurrence of moderate and strong earthquakes.     

基于同震GPS数据的汶川大震同震应变特征研究

利用同震GPS观测数据,采用多面函数法,以数据分片拟合方式对2008年5月12日汶川MS8.0大震同震面应变进行计算,评定了计算结果的精度,并分析与强震有关的面应变变化特征。结果表明:在计算同震应变变化时,分片拟合较整体拟合得到的应变结果精度更高;同震应变结果对龙门山断裂能量释放特征及地表破坏分布有一定的反映。     

Earthquake-induced Groundwater and Gas Changes

Active faults are commonly associated with spatially anomalously high concentrations of soil gases such as carbon dioxide and Rn, suggesting that they are crustal discontinuities with a relatively high vertical permeability through which crustal and subcrustal gases may preferably escape towards the earth's surface. Many earthquake-related hydrologic and geochemical temporal changes have been recorded, mostly along active faults especially at fault intersections, since the 1960s. The reality of such changes is gradually ascertained and their features well delineated and fairly understood. Some coseismic changes recorded in ``near field' are rather consistent with poroelastic dislocation models of earthquake sources, whereas others are attributable to near-surface permeability enhancement. In addition, coseismic (and postseismic) changes were recorded for many moderate to large earthquakes at certain relatively few ``sensitive sites' at epicentral distances too large (larger for larger earthquakes, up to 1000 km or more for magnitude 8) to be explained by the poroelastic models. They are probably triggered by seismic shaking. The sensitivity of different sites can be greatly different, even when separated only by meters. The sensitive sites are usually located on or near active faults, especially their intersections and bends, and characterized by some near-critical hydrologic or geochemical condition (e.g., permeability that can be greatly increased by a relatively small seismic shaking or stress increase). Coseismic changes recorded for different earthquakes at a sensitive site are usually similar, regardless of the earthquakes' location and focal mechanism. The sensitivity of a sensitive site may change with time. Also pre-earthquake changes were observed hours to years before some destructive earthquakes at certain sensitive sites, some at large epicentral distances, although these changes are relatively few and less certain. Both long-distance coseismic and preseismic changes call for more realistic models than simple elastic dislocation for explanation. Such models should take into consideration the heterogeneity of the crust where stress is concentrated at certain weak points (sensitive sites) along active faults such that the stress condition is near a critical level prior to the occurrence of the corresponding earthquakes. To explain the preseismic changes, the models should also assume a broad-scaled episodically increasing strain field.     

Case 21 water level and strain changes preceding and following the August 4, 1985 Kettleman Hills, California, earthquake

Two of the four wells monitored near Parkfield, California, during 1985 showed water level rises beginning three days before theM _w 6.1 Kettleman Hills earthquake. In one of these wells, the 3.0 cm rise was nearly unique in five years of water level data. However, in the other well, which showed a 3.8 cm rise, many other changes of comparable size have been observed. Both wells that did not display pre-earthquake rises tap partially confined aquifers that cannot sustain pressure changes due to tectonic strain having periods longer than several days. We evaluate the effect of partial aquifer confinement on the ability of these four wells to display water level changes in response to aquifer strain. Although the vertical hydraulic diffusivities cannot be determined uniquely, we can find a value of diffusivity for each site that is consistent with the site's tidal and barometric responses as well as with the rate of partial recovery of the coseismic water level drops. Furthermore, the diffusivity for one well is high enough to explain why the preseismic rise could not have been detected there. For the fourth well, the diffusivity is high enough to have reduced the size of the preseismic signal as much as 50%, although it should still have been detectable. Imperfect confinement cannot explain the persistent water level changes in the two partially confined aquifers, but it does show that they were not due to volume strain. The pre-earthquake water level rises may have been precursors to the Kettleman Hills earthquake. If so, they probably were not caused by accelerating slip over the part of the fault plane that ruptured in that earthquake because they are of opposite sign to the observed coseismic water level drops.     

琼中地震台重力仪记录同震响应特征分析

2013年2月6-8日圣克鲁斯群岛发生6次强震,琼中地震台的重力仪记录都有同震响应出现。本文从重力仪记录的面波的延迟时间、最大变形幅度、同震持续时间3个方面研究了6次强震的同震响应特征。     

2013年芦山地震震源区地壳介质地震波速变化的特征分析

为探究芦山M7.0级地震后5年多来,震源区龙门山断裂带西南段介质波速的变化规律,本文基于2012年4月至2018年4月共6年的连续波形数据,运用移动窗互谱与频域偏振等分析方法,结合背景噪声源的特性,对不同深度范围内的相对波速变化以及震后的恢复过程与机制进行了研究.获得的主要认识包括：（1）年尺度而言,震源区周期为1~20 s的背景噪声场相对稳定,但成分复杂、2~10 s频带内至少存在2个能量相对稳定的噪声源;不同周期噪声的能量,在月变与季节性上的变化特征差异明显.（2）获得了长时间尺度、不同频带内介质相对波速的背景变化水平,1~2 s、2~4 s的波动幅度（约为±0.04%）与季节性变化规律强于4~10 s、10~20 s的,结合与降雨量相关的地下水位模型能很好地解释其变化规律.（3）震源区的同震波速降低现象清晰,降幅约为0.08%~0.1%;空间上,波速下降最为显著的区域主要集中在龙门山断裂带两侧约70 km范围内,其中四川盆地一侧平均约为0.1%,略高于青藏高原（0.08%）一侧;在断裂带内的降速不显著.对不同子频带进行测量的结果显示,震后除10~20 s外,其余3个子频带的相对波速在震后较短时间内（约20天左右）均出现较大幅度的波速降低现象,其中4~10 s的平均降速最大（约为0.08%）,分析认为主震及大量余震的松弛效应是引起介质波速下降的主要原因.（4）震后大约1年左右,波速变化基本恢复到震前水平,且至2018年4月前未观察到大幅的波速变化现象,总体上各频带内的结果均沿零线小幅波动.     

夏垫断裂带地震地下流体的同震响应研究

地震地下流体已成为一种重要的地震监测手段。 本文分析夏垫断裂带上观测井的同震响应特征, 探讨观测井水位、 水温同震变化对夏垫断裂带的影响机理, 收集和整理布设在夏垫断裂带上的赵各庄井和西集井两口观测井水位和水温同震响应资料, 从响应的地震次数及发震位置、 异常幅度、 时间和形态类型等方面对其响应特征进行分析, 从震中距、 震级和井-含水层岩性等方面探讨了地下流体地震前兆异常的成因。 结果显示, 赵各庄井和西集井水位地震响应能力强于水温, 响应形态以振荡型为主, 对于M_S7.0以上地震具有显著的映震能力。 在水温资料中, 仅有赵各庄井对2008年汶川M_S8.0地震有响应, 响应幅度为0.0129℃。 综合分析认为, 井-含水层岩性影响了两井同震响应形态特征, 远场大地震产生的动态应变导致了较大的水位变幅。     

Preliminary study on coseismic step-like changes of water-level in the Dazhai well, Simao city, Yunnan Province

The study on coseismic step-like changes of water-level is of theoretical and practical significance to the mitigation of secondary hazards, identification of earthquake precursors, tracking of the subsequent shocks, and the research of crustal activity (Nur and Booker, 1972; WANG et al, 1988). A lot of researches have been done by previous geoscientists. Among them, ZHANG et al (1994) inverted stress variation in the aquifers through the analysis of coseismic step-like changes of well water level. LI (1995), WANG (2000), and FU et al (2002) studied the relationship between coseismic step-like changes of water level and future seismic activity. HUANG et al (2000) investigated the water-level changes in many wells after the occurrence of one great earthquake. However,the analysis of the quantitative relation between the coseismic step-like changes of water level and earthquakes in China has not been reported so far. This paper describes the coseismic step-like changes of water level in the Dazhai well, Simao city, Yunnan Province, and tries to discuss the possible mechanism of these changes.