Analysis of mining-induced microseismic events at Strathcona Mine,Subdury, Canada

Rockbursts and mining-induced seismic events have serious socio-economic consequences for the Canadian mining industry, as their mines are extended to greater depths. Automatic multichannel monitoring systems (Electro-Lab MP250s) are routinely, used to detect the arrival times of seismic waves radiated by mining-induced events and sensed on an array of single component transducers installed throughout a mine. These arrival times are then used to locate the events and produce maps of areas of high activity for use in mine planning and design. This approach has limitations in that, it does not allow a detailed analysis of source mechanisms, which could be extracted if whole waveform signals are recorded and analyzed.A major research project, sponsored by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) with the collaboration of the Canadian mining industry, is aimed at enhancing existing mine seismic monitoring technology in Canada, in order to carry out more advanced processing of data to obtain fundamental scientific information on mining-induced seismic events This paper describes preliminary results from seismic monitoring experiments carried out in a hard rock nickel mine in Sudbury, Canada. Existing seismic monitoring instrumentation was enhanced with a low cost microcomputer-based whole waveform seismic acquisition system. Some of the signals recorded during this experiment indicate anisotropic wave propagation through the mine rock masses, as observed by the splitting of shear waves and the relative arrival of two shear waves polarized in directions which may be related to the structural fabric and/or state of stress in the rock mass. Analysis of compressional wave first motion shows the predominance of shear events, as indicated by focal mechanism studies and is confirmed by spectral analysis of the waveforms. The source parameters were estimated fro typical low magnitude localized microseismic events during the initial monitoring experiments. The seismic moment of these events varied between 10⁶ N.m and 2.10⁸ N.m. with a circular source radius of between 1 m and 2 m with an estimated stress drop of the order of 1 MPa.     

利用广义叠加反演方法估算长岛震群应力降

地震应力降是表征震源特性的一个重要参数,通常由震源谱计算得到.但如何从大量地震的观测谱中校正路径和台站效应,准确地分离出震源谱并计算应力降,仍是一个难题.本文采用广义叠加反演方法通过分阶段叠加从观测谱中迭代分离出震源项、台站项和路径项,并利用分震级的叠加震源项与理论谱的拟合得到经验格林函数,再利用由经验格林函数校正后的真实震源谱估算出应力降.该方法不需要知道仪器响应、场地响应和传播路径上的衰减系数,并且不用事先假设震源具有自相似的恒应力降特征,计算效率很高,适用于反演大量地震的震源参数.我们将广义叠加反演方法应用于长岛震群,利用S波谱估算了1431个ML≥1.0地震的应力降.结果表明,广义叠加反演方法获得的震源参数和用传统方法得到的结果一致;长岛震群地震的应力降较小(中值是0.3 MPa),变化范围很大(0.009～3.04MPa之间),属于低应力降事件集;同时应力降中值随地震矩增大而增大,偏离了自相似理论.应力降空间变化不均匀,高应力降事件主要集中在震群的端部(NW端),到最近断层距离的依赖性不强,在9、10km处的应力降中值略高于其他深度.根据应力降的变化特征和区域构造条件,我们推测地下流体在长岛震群的活动中起到一定的作用.     

Stochastic Finite Fault Modeling of Subduction Zone Earthquakes in Northeastern India

In this article, a stochastic finite fault source model is calibrated to estimate ground motion in northeastern India for intermediate depth events originating in the Indo-Burmese tectonic domain. A total of 47 three-component accelerograms from eight events with magnitudes ranging from M _w 4.8–6.4 are used to estimate the input source and site parameters of the finite fault source model. Key seismic parameters such as stress drop (Δσ) and site amplification function are determined from the recorded strong motion data. The obtained stress drop of the eight recorded events lies in between 105 and 165 bars.     

山西地区震源新参数间关系初探

利用“十五”数字化后山西地震台网记录的612次 ML ≥2．0地震,使用中国地震局地震预测研究所推广的中小地震新参数计算软件,计算其中148次事件的震源新参数,对地震矩、矩震级、震源破裂尺度、应力降、拐角频率等参数间的定标关系做初步研究,得出 ML 震级与地震矩、矩震级间存在较好的线性正相关;震级与震源尺度间存在多项式关系;与应力降的对数呈显著正相关,当大于 ML 4．0后,随着震级的增大,释放的应力降略有变缓;与拐角频率的对数呈负相关。     

Stress drop assessment of the August 8, 2017, Jiuzhaigou earthquake sequence and its tectonic implications*

By using a broadband Lg attenuation model developed for the Tibetan Plateau, we isolate source terms by removing attenuation and site effects from the observed Lg-wave displacement spectra of the M7.0 earthquake that occurred on August 8, 2017, in Jiuzhaigou, China, and its aftershock sequence. Thus, the source parameters, including the scalar seismic moment, corner frequency and stress drop, of these events can be further estimated. The estimated stress drops vary from 47.1 kPa to 7149.6 kPa, with a median value of 59.4 kPa and most values falling between 50 kPa and 75 kPa. The estimated stress drops show significant spatial variations. Lower stress drops were mainly found close to the mainshock and on the seismogenic fault plane with large coseismic slip. In contrast, the highest stress drop was 7.1 MPa for the mainshock, and relatively large stress drops were also found for aftershocks away from the major seismogenic fault and at depths deeper than the zone with large coseismic slip. By using a statistical method, we found self-similarity among some of the aftershocks with a nearly constant stress drop. In contrast, the stress drop increased with the seismic moment for other aftershocks. The amount of stress released during earthquakes is a fundamental characteristic of the earthquake rupture process. As such, the stress drop represents a key parameter for improving our understanding of earthquake source physics.     

Comparison of source parameters estimated in the frequency and time domains for seismic events at the Rudna copper mine,Poland

Source parameters estimated in the frequency domain for 100 selected seismic events from the Rudna copper mine, with moment magnitude ranging from 1.4 to 3.6, were collected to study their scaling relations and to compare them with the parameters estimated in the time domain. The apparent stress and static stress drop, corrected for the limited bandwidth recording, increase slightly in a similar manner with increasing seismic moment. The ratio of apparent stress to static stress drop, a measure of radiation efficiency, is practically constant and its mean value is close to 0.1. For 37 seismic events, with moment magnitude between 1.9 and 3.4, source parameters were estimated in the time domain from relative source time functions, that displayed unilateral rupture propagation, and their rupture velocity could be estimated. It ranges from 0.23 to 0.80 of shear wave velocity and is almost independent of seismic moment. The fault length, estimated from the average source pulse width and rupture velocity, is clearly dependent on seismic moment and is smaller than the source radius estimated from the corner frequency on the average by about 25 percent. There is no correlation between the values of static stress drop estimated in the frequency and time domains, but the time domain stress drop is in general similar to that estimated in the frequency domain. The apparent stress increases with increasing rupture velocity, and the ratio of apparent stress to static stress drop seems also to depend on rupture velocity.     

Mining-induced seismicity in faulted geologic structures: An analysis of seismicity-induced slip potential

Relationships between the locations of mining-induced seismic events, local fault structure, and mine geometry were examined in a deep hard-rock mine in northern Idaho. Stopes experiencing rock bursts and other large seismic events were found to fall into two structural regimes: the Silver Vein, and the N48°W Trend, a steeply dipping plane of seismic activity that is subparallel to major local steeply dipping faults which bound blocky structures. The N48°W Trend also intersects a shaft that was seriously damaged when fault gouge was expelled into the opening during a 3-month period of high seismic energy release. Models of stress interaction are used to support the hypothesis that mining-induced deformation was mobilized along a 1.5 km length of the N48°W Trend. Specifically, numerical models are used to simulate rupture of seismic events and estimate induced changes in the quasi-static stress field. A Coulomb failure criterion is used with these results to estimate the spatial variation in potential for slip on planes parallel to local faulting. Increases in the potential for slip on fault planes subparallel to the N48°W Trend are consistent with activation of deformation along its 1.5 km length. For events with constant seismic moment, stress drop is shown to be far more important than source dimension in elevating slip potential along the observed plane of seismic activity     

工业开采诱发地震的应力降研究现状和主要科学议题

诱发地震及其灾害风险已成为非常规油气资源开发和废水回注等新型工业活动顺利实施的重要威胁。应力降是反映地震破裂前后断层上平均应力差的物理量,对诱发地震中应力降的系统研究有助于揭示诱发地震的震源特征、高频地震动特征、构造背景和地震危险性。本文系统地总结了近20年来工业开采诱发地震中应力降的相关研究进展,分别从计算所用理论方法、获得的平均应力降数值、影响应力降数值的主客观因素、围绕应力降的重要科学讨论等方面做了归纳分析。介绍了直接进行谱拟合、经验格林函数(EGF)、谱叠加和广义反演3种适用性的计算方法,通过案例考察了工业开采诱发地震的应力降平均值,分析影响应力降测定数值的主客观因素,并总结应力降空间分布依赖性、与震源机制类型相依性、自相似性、深度依赖性等4个主要科学问题。同时,阐述了诱发地震应力降的测定可靠性仍未突破、主要科学问题存在广泛争议、在新型工业开采活动中具有重要应用潜力等现状。本文的总结分析可为从事新型能源开发、地震安全监管和科学研究领域的企业、管理人员和科学研究人员提供参考。     

甘肃地区震源参数的相关性研究

通过对甘肃数字地震台网2008年1月-2009年6月记录的ML 2.0-ML 6.0中小地震,S波观测谱中噪音、仪器、路径、场地等影响的逐一消除,利用遗传算法反演得到甘肃地区273条地震的震源谱,进而根据Brune的圆盘震源模型,计算地震矩、应力降、拐角频率、震源半径等震源参数,并研究甘肃地区震源参数的特征及相似关系....     

Physics of Seismic Source Ⅱ. Mechanics of Seismic Source

An earthquake is regarded as a fracture from the viewpoint of continuum mechanics, in which stress and strain play key roles in understanding the nature of a seismic source. This review briefly outlines the mechanics of a seismic source in terms of the dislocation model and crack model. The introduction includes the Coulomb failure criterion, static stress drop, dynamic stress drop, the Griffith criterion, and the scaling of source parameters. The selection of topics in the introduction emphasizes the application of seismic data, i.e., in practice, the mechanical parameters introduced here are measurable in the interpretation and analysis of seismic waveform data.     

宁夏地区中小地震震源参数的研究

利用宁夏及邻区的数字测震资料,选取2009年5月至2010年10月间的31个M2.7-ML4.9地震事件的波形记录,以Brune提出的震源谱为平方模型基础,通过消除观测谱中的几何扩散、非弹性衰减、场地响应、仪器响应等影响因素,得到这些地震的震源谱,根据Brune的圆盘震源模型计算并研究地震矩、矩震级、地震应力降、震源尺...     

中国大陆主要地震活动区中小地震震源参数研究

本文利用中国大陆几个主要地震活动区近几年积累的大量ML≥2.5数字地震观测记录,在分别反演得到13个不同构造研究区域的介质衰减模型、348个台站的场地效应的基础上,自0.1～20 Hz的SH观测波形数据中逐步消除了仪器、噪声、几何扩散、传播路径的介质衰减、台站场地效应等影响后,恢复了2573次3.0≤ML≤6.0地震的...     

Source parameters of mining-induced seismic events: An evaluation of homogeneous and inhomogeneous faulting models for assessing damage potential

Source parameter estimates based on the homogeneous and inhomogeneous source models have been examined for an anomalous sequence of seven mine-induced events located between 640 and 825 m depth at Strathcona mine, Ontario, and having magnitudes ranging betweenm _N 0.8 and 2.7. The derived Brune static stress drops were found to be similar to those observed for natural earthquakes (30 bars), whereas dynamic stress drops were found to range up to 250–300 bars. Source radii derived from Madariaga's model better fit documented evidence of underground damage. These values of source radii were similar to those observed for the inhomogeneous model. The displacement at the source, based on the observed attenuation relationship, was about 60 mm for three magnitude 2.7 events. This is in agreement with slip values calculated using peak velocities and assuming the asperity as a Brune source within itself (72 mm). By using Madariaga's model for the asperity, the slip was over 3 times larger than observed. Peak velocity and acceleration scaling relations with magnitude were investigated by incorporating available South African data, appropriately reduced to Canadian geophysical conditions. The dynamic stress drop scaled as the square root of the seismic moment, similar to reported results in the literature for crustal earthquakes. This behavior suggests that the size of the asperities responsible for the peak ground motion, with respect to the overall source size, follow distributions that may be similar over a wide range of magnitudes. Measurements of source rupture complexity (ranging from 2 to 4) were found to agree with estimates of overall source to asperity radii, suggesting, together with the observed low rupture velocities (0.3 to 0.6 ), that the sources were somewhat complex. Validation of source model appropriateness was achieved by direct comparison of the predicted ground motion level to observed underground damage in Creighton mine, located within the same regional stress and geological regime as Strathcona mine. Close to the source (<100 m), corresponding to relatively higher damage levels, a good agreement was found between the predicted peak particle velocities for the inhomogeneous model and velocities derived based on established geomechanical relationships. The similarity between asperity radii and the regions of the highest observed damage provided additional support for the use of the inhomogeneous source model in the assessment of damage potential.     

安徽地区震源参数的相关性研究

基于安徽数字地震台网2010年1月至2017年12月记录到的ML2.5~5.0级地震,根据中小地震震源参数测定原理,利用多台多地震联合反演Atkinson方法和Moya方法分别计算了安徽地区地壳平均非弹性衰减因子Q值和安徽24个省属专业地震的台站场地。在此基础上,运用遗传算法求得安徽地区96个地震事件的震源谱参数,进而根据Brune中小地震圆盘模型计算其拐角频率、地震矩、应力降、矩震级、震源尺度等震源参数,并分析其特征及相互之间的关系。研究结果表明:安徽地区中小地震的ML震级与其他震源参数之间存在一定相关关系,而地震矩M0与应力降Δσ、震源尺度r和拐角频率fc之间并未表现出明显的相关关系。     

Source parameters and scaling relations for small earthquakes in Kumaon Himalaya, India

We investigate the scaling relationships among earthquake source parameters using more than 300 good quality broad band seismograms from 30 small earthquakes in the Kumaon Himalaya from the spectral analysis of P and S waves. The average ratio of P/S wave corner frequency is found to be 1.13, which is suggestive of shift in the corner frequency. The estimated seismic moment range from 1.6?×?10¹³–5.8?×?10¹⁵ N?m, while the stress drop varies from 0.6 to 16 bars with 80 % of the events below 10 bars. An analysis of stress drop and apparent stress drop indicates the partial stress drop mechanism in the region. The source radii are between 0.17 and 0.88 km. The total seismic energy varies from 1.79?×?10⁸ to 7.30?×?10¹¹ J. We also observe the variation in seismic energy for a given seismic moment. The scaling relation between the seismic moment and stress drop suggests the breakdown of constant stress drop scaling for the range of seismic moments obtained here for the region. This shows the anomalous behavior of small earthquakes in the region. The study indicates that the stress drop is the dominant scaling factor for the moments studied here.     

Source and high-frequency decay parameters for the Azores region for stochastic finite-fault ground motion simulations

Strong ground motion prediction based on finite-fault simulation requires the identification of the fault (strike, dip, length and width), source kinematics parameters (stress drop, rupture velocity and slip distribution), regional crustal properties (geometrical spreading, anelastic structure, and upper crustal amplification and attenuation parameters) and the determination of amplification effects due to the local site geology. The general purpose of this study is to understand source and attenuation properties in the Azores, by the determination of stress drop, quality factor and kappa, through records obtained by the Portuguese digital seismic and accelerometer network. Source Spectra were obtained, for each record, after correcting observed spectra from geometrical spreading and anelastic attenuation effect: quality factor was estimated based on coda decay in the time domain and the kappa parameter was estimated by fitting the high-frequency decay of the acceleration spectrum with a straight line in a log-linear scale. Mean stress drop value was obtained considering that ω-squared model for the source spectra prevails. Parameters kappa, k, and quality factor, Q, have been estimated to be k = (0.075 ± 0.02)s and \(Q(f) = (76 \pm 11)f^{0.69 \pm 0.09}\), respectively. A mean value of stress drop was estimated to be around 90–130 bars for the earthquakes in analysis. The knowledge of source and path parameters, in association with other ground motion parameters, allows improving ground-motion estimates for the Azores and, consequently, will lead to more accurate seismic hazard assessment for the Azores and better characterization of seismic scenarios.     

Site response and source spectra of S waves in the Zagros region, Iran

S wave amplitude spectra from shallow earthquakes with magnitudes ranging between 4.2 and 6.2 in the Zagros region of Iran that occurred between 1998 and 2008 are used to examine source parameters and site response of S waves. A generalized inversion scheme has been used to separate the source, propagation path, and local site effects from S wave spectra. For removing the trade-off between source and site terms and propagation effects (including geometric and anelastic attenuation), the spectral amplitudes of the records used were corrected for attenuation and geometrical spreading function using a path model proposed by Zafarani and Soghrat (Bull Seism Soc Am 102:2031–2045, 2012) for the region. We assume a Brune’s point source model to retrieve source parameters like corner frequency, moment magnitude, and high-frequency fall off coefficient, for each event. When the source spectra are interpreted in terms of Brune’s model, the average stress drops obtained are about 7.1 and 5.9 MPa (71 and 59 bars), respectively for the eastern and western Zagros regions. Stress drops range from 1.4 to 35.0 MPa (14 to 350 bars), with no clear dependence on magnitude. The results in terms of stress drop and S wave seismic energy indicate that the Zagros events are more similar to interplate earthquakes of western North America than to intraplate events of eastern North America. The method also provides us with site responses for all 40 stations individually and is an interesting alternative to other methods, such as the H/V method. A new empirical relationship between body-wave magnitudes and moment magnitude has been proposed for the Iranian plateau using derived seismic moment from the inversion.     

浙江珊溪水库地震震源参数特征研究

利用2014年1月-2015年12月浙江省区域数字地震台网记录的1 360次珊溪水库M_L0.5-4.4地震资料,采用Brune模式,将台站获取的速度记录进行几何扩散校正、介质衰减校正及仪器校正后得到速度谱,对速度谱在频率域进行傅里叶积分得到震源位移谱,之后使用遗传算法计算得到拐角频率和震源位移谱零频极限值,进而计算出该区的地震矩为1010-1014 N·m,震源破裂半径为33-550 m,拐角频率为2.4-39.7 Hz,地震应力降为0.04-6.74 MPa,视应力为0-2.75 MPa.在此基础上,对各参数特征及其关系进行系统性分析,结果表明:各震源参数之间表现出一定的对数线性或半对数线性关系;空间上,应力降和拐角频率在库区西北段较高,东南段较低;应力降与地震矩在空间上呈反向关系,拐角频率与破裂半径在空间上呈负相关.      

Seismological model parameters for northeastern and its surrounding region of India

A point source seismological model is used in this study to model the available strong motion accelerograms recorded by 17 events and to calculate three seismological model parameters, the source, path, and quality factor. Due to the paucity of recorded events, this is the first time these model parameters have been obtained for the northeastern and its surrounding region of India. The quality factors of the horizontal and vertical components of recorded events with corresponding standard deviations are Q_H(f) = 188.55f^0.94, σ₁ value (25, 0.025) and Q_V(f) = 169.76f^0.93, σ₁ value (20, 0.03), respectively. The source parameter stress drop values (μσ) vary within 124–180 bars for the subduction region and 80–169 bars for the active region. The Kappa factors for the horizontal and vertical components of recorded events on the soft rock site are 0.06 and 0.05, respectively. These seismological model parameters obtained in this study will be useful for future work deriving a ground motion attenuation relation based on a spectral model. Finally, these results are useful for seismic hazard assessment of a region having sparsely recorded events.     

Engineering Ground Motion Modeling in the Near-Source Regime Using the Specific Barrier Model for Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis

—The specific barrier model is used for the first time to simulate ground motion accelerations for the purpose of probabilistic seismic hazard analyses at sites near a dominant fault system. It incorporates the simulation of fault geometry and the relationship between the stress drop and seismic moment to estimate the number of cracks on the fault for the specific barrier model. Radiated direct shear waves are established following Boore’s (1983) procedure. The simulated peak ground accelerations (PGA) are then calibrated by strong-motion data. Basically, the model is of uniform source, and the directivity of the source is not taken into consideration. The results show that the calibrated PGA values are not sensitive to the relationship between the stress drop and seismic moment. However, the calibrated PGA values may increase about 20 percent for sites near the fault when the cut-off frequency,?f _max?, is raised from 5 Hz to 10 Hz. The variability of the simulated ground motion is, in general, smaller than that of the empirical strong-motion data shown in the literature. This may be improved by adding randomness into the parameter of ?f _max and uncertainties into the empirical relationships adopted in the model. The simulated attenuation curves may be used to judge which types of conventional attenuation equations are better at representing the attenuation of PGA for sites near the fault, especially for large earthquake events.