Reservoir-induced seismicity in the Longtan reservoir, southwestern China

A pronounced increase in seismicity started in and around Longtan reservoir, southwestern China after October 1, 2006 when it began the impoundment, and by the end of May 14, 2010, about 3,233 earthquakes with ?0.6?≤?M _L?≤?4.2 had been located. This seismicity which occurred in five clusters mainly concentrated in the areas where few earthquakes had occurred before the first filling. There were four water filling periods in the Longtan reservoir, and the observed reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS) shows a strong correlation with the filling cycles. After the first filling, there appears to be an instant undrained response due to an elastic response to the reservoir load in the third and fourth cluster. Then, this seismicity is followed by a delayed, drained response due to pore pressure diffusion, with the seismicity migrating outwards in one or more directions in the second and third filling period. The seismic diffusivity (α _s) we estimated is about 4.54?×?10⁵?cm²/s. The activity levels in the five clusters are different due to differences in the structures and permeabilities of the faults. The delayed seismic response to the filling in the third cluster was due to the combined effects of the lack of local fault intersecting the reservoir and lower permeability of the rock. The b value we obtained for reservoir-induced events was significantly different and higher than that of pre-impoundment natural tectonic earthquakes in the Longtan reservoir. The results of relocated earthquakes based on double difference earthquake location algorithm showed that their focal depths were mainly shallower than about 10 km and the distribution of relocated RIS in four clusters had no relation with these intersecting faults in the Longtan reservoir except the fifth cluster. All these characteristics of RIS in the Longtan reservoir indicate that they may relate to the coupled poroelastic response that includes both pore pressure diffusion and an undrained response, but the pore pressure diffusion and the water permeation appear to play a more important role on inducing the earthquakes in Longtan reservoir.     

水库诱发地震与构造地震震源参数特征差异性研究——以龙滩水库为例

首先讨论龙滩库区水库蓄水与地震活动之间的关系,发现龙滩水库诱发地震特征十分明显,地震共分5丛呈丛集分布.利用库区架设的24个固定和流动台站记录的数字记录资料,在研究得到龙滩库区非弹性衰减和台站场地响应的基础上,精确测定得到了该地区总共1616个ML≥0.1级地震的震源参数,比较了水库诱发地震与构造地震震源参数特征的差异,得到了以下主要结论:1)龙滩水库地震活动与水库蓄水关系密切,不同蓄水阶段5丛的地震活动状态不同,局部断裂构造发育以及岩石透水性能影响着地震活动对蓄水过程的响应.2)龙滩水库诱发地震的地震矩M0随震级ML的增大而增大,两者之间存在较好的线性关系,统计关系为LogM0=1.07 ML+10.17.应力降与地震大小之间的关系和Nuttli的板内地震为增加应力降(ISD)模型的结果比较吻合,统计关系为LogΔσ=0.71 ML-2.89.3)龙滩水库地区地震辐射能量和地震视应力均随震级的增大而增大,后者意味着大地震是比小地震更高效率的地震能量辐射体.4)总体上不同丛地震应力降水平存在差异.地震应力降空间分布上与库水深度有较好的一致性,即库水深的区域应力降水平高.5)与同震级的构造地震相比,水库诱发地震的应力降值比前者明显偏低,大约小10倍.这可能是由于水库蓄水造成地下介质孔隙压力增大或者水的润滑作用,从而导致在一个比较低的构造应力情况下发生水库诱发地震.     

Seismic analysis of the Xiluodu reservoir area and insights into the geometry of seismogenic faults

The Xiluodu (XLD) reservoir is the second largest reservoir in China and the largest in the Jinsha River basin. The occurrence of two M > 5 earthquakes after reservoir impoundment has aroused great interest among seismologists and plant operators. We comprehensively analyzed the seismicity of the XLD reservoir area using precise earthquake relocation results and focal mechanism solutions and found that the seismicity of this area was weak before impoundment. Following impoundment, earthquake activity increased significantly. The occurrence of M ≥ 3.5 earthquakes within five years of impoundment also appear to be closely related to rapid rises and falls in water level, though this correlation weakened after five years because earthquake activity was far from the reservoir area. Earthquakes in the XLD reservoir area are clustered; near the dam (Area A), small faults are intermittently distributed along the river, while Area B is composed of multiple NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults and a thrust fault and Area C is composed of a NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip main fault and a nearly EW-trending right-lateral strike-slip minor fault. The geometries of the deep and the shallow parts of the NW-trending fault differ. Under the action of the NW-trending background stress field, a series of NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults and NE-trending thrust faults in critical stress states were dislocated due to the stress caused by reservoir impoundment. The two largest earthquakes in the XLD reservoir area were tectonic earthquakes that were directly triggered by impoundment.     

糯扎渡水库地区地震活动和震源参数研究

本文利用糯扎渡水库台网和景洪水库台网记录的地震波形反演震源谱, 计算了2011年1月至2014年3月糯扎渡水库附近143个1.0级以上地震的震源参数。 分析研究发现: ① 糯扎渡水库蓄水后, 库区内地震活动明显增强, 尤其是在水位上升3~4个月后; ② 水库开始蓄水后, 库区内地震震源深度变浅, 一段时间以后则与库区外的差别减小; ③ 地震拐角频率随地震矩增大而减小, 且蓄水以后, 库区内地震拐角频率的对数与地震矩的对数线性关系更明显; ④ 应力降、 视应力与地震矩存在正相关关系, 且相同地震矩时库区内的应力降与视应力低于蓄水前和库区外的地震应力降与视应力值; ⑤ 蓄水对库区内地震的影响可延伸至库底10 km深度处, 且在3~6 km深度内影响最大、 库区内外地震频度与视应力均值差异最显著。     

长江三峡工程周边地区的采矿诱发地震

地震观测和实地调查表明,长江三峡工程周缘广泛存在采矿诱发地震。采矿诱发地震主要是由于矿山采空区的出现使浅部地壳差应力增大岩体失稳而产生的,它们不同于天然地震。水库蓄水前应对这些地震的背景进行详细研究。在进行区域地震震情分析和预报、区域应力场及活动断裂研究时应严格加以区别     

云南小湾水库蓄水后P波速度结构的双差地震层析成像研究

联合小湾水库库区及其附近11249个地震的P波绝对到时、相对到时数据,利用双差地震层析成像方法反演得到小湾水库蓄水后2008年12月16日～2011年6月30日和2011年7月1日～2016年12月31日2个时间段内库区及其附近的地震重定位结果和三维P波速度结构。结果表明,蓄水后黑惠江段和小湾水库回水澜沧江段地震的增多与水库蓄水有关。由于水体渗透导致孔隙压变化,并随着时间的推移孔隙压变化朝着更深的部位扩散,地震震源深度也随之向深部扩散,进而导致介质变化和P波速度降低。蓄水回水至澜沧江保山段后该区域地震增多,P波速度下降,库水渗透作用为主控因素,该区域地下一定深度的地质构造有利于库水的快速渗透。初步判定2015年10月30日云南昌宁M_S5.1地震余震序列是与蓄水有关的柯街断裂上的构造地震。同时,也存在着与蓄水相关性不大的属于构造地震的活动,如云南施甸一带历来地震多发,施甸2010年6月1日M_L4.8、2012年9月11日M_S4.7地震序列均属于构造地震,与水库蓄水无关。     

福建水口库区地震活动及其动力成因分析

根据水库蓄水后地震活动的时间分布特征,将水库诱发地震分为三个阶段,通过对三个阶段地震活动的震中分布、震源深度、震源机制解等活动特征进行分析,同时考证震中区历史上曾发生过的强烈有感地震,得出以下认识:①库区三个阶段地震动力成因各不相同,第一阶段主要是水库蓄水引发的初始应力释放,第二阶段地震动力来自东南方向,第三阶段地震动力来自西北方向。②水库诱发地震震中区历史上曾发生过强烈有感地震,震中区将成为区域构造应力场调整释放的"窗口",因此应加强水口库区的地震监测与防御。③在讨论福建地区地震动力成因时,不能只强调来自台湾岛弧碰撞对福建地区地震的控制作用,而忽略来自喜马拉雅碰撞带对福建地区的作用力。     

重庆三江口水库诱发地震分析研究

通过野外地震地质调查并参考前人研究成果,分析三江口水库区的地质构造背景、地震活动性及水文地质条件等资料,对该水库诱发地震的可能性进行分析。构造类比法分析表明:蓄水后发生构造型水库诱发地震的可能性较小,但有可能发生岩溶塌陷型水库诱发地震。概率预测法分析表明:库首段(新滩子—狮狸弯)发震概率较小,仅为0.02;库中段(狮狸弯—牛鼻子)岩溶不太发育,诱震可能性较小,不发震的概率为0.96;库尾段(牛鼻子—峡马口)有可能诱发微震,发震(M3.0)概率为0.10。     

Evidence that earthquakes have been triggered by reservoir in the Song Tranh 2 region,Vietnam

In the Song Tranh 2 (ST2) hydropower reservoir located in the Quang Nam province, Central Vietnam, earthquakes started occurring soon after impoundment of the reservoir in late 2010. Earthquakes continue to occur in the region, and two earthquakes of M 4.6 and 4.7 on October 22, 2012 and November 15, 2012, respectively, have been reported (Trieu et al. 2014; Giang et al. 2015) in the vicinity of the reservoir. In the present study, b-value has been estimated, and focal mechanism solutions have been computed for the first time using moment tensor inversion approach. Also, the influence of impoundment of reservoir on the occurrence of earthquakes has been computed for the ST2 region based on Coulomb stress. A quality data set of 595 earthquakes recorded for the period of October 2012 to April 2014 at ten stations of the seismic network operated by the Institute of Geophysics (IGP) has been used to calculate b-values for the northern and southern seismicity clusters of the region. In general, the b-values associated with reservoir-triggered seismicity (RTS) are found to be higher than the regional b-values in the frequency-magnitude relation of earthquakes. For the ST2 region, it is found that the b-values for the northern and southern clusters are 0.94 ± 0.04 and 0.90 ± 0.04, respectively. Focal mechanism solutions obtained for the two earthquakes close to the reservoir have a right-lateral strike-slip mechanism, with the preferred planes trending NW-SE. These results are concurrent with the orientation of the nearby local surface faults, which we confirm as the active faults in this region. Influence of the stresses due to reservoir water load on the local seismicity is computed based on the obtained focal mechanism by using the concept of fault stability. It is found that most of the earthquakes occur in the positive Coulomb stress region, which shows the influence of reservoir impoundment on earthquake occurrence in the vicinity. Our results suggest that the local earthquakes are triggered by the impoundment of the ST2 reservoir.     

Seismic activities before and after the impoundment of the Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu reservoirs in the lower Jinsha River

The lower Jinsha River basin is located at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in Southwest China, a region with intense tectonic movements and frequent moderate to strong seismic activities. Cascade hydropower stations have been constructed along the lower Jinsha River since 2012. However, research on the effect of the impoundment of large-scale cascade reservoirs in a river basin on local seismic activities is currently lacking. Accurately identifying earthquake locations is essential for studying reservoir-induced earthquakes. Analyzing the spatiotemporal migration process of seismic activities based on complete and precise earthquake relocation is fundamental for determining the fluid diffusion coefficient, constructing fault models for reservoir areas, identifying earthquake types, exploring earthquake mechanisms, and evaluating seismic hazards. The seismicity pattern in the Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu reservoir areas, where seismic activities had been weak for a long time, has changed with the successive impoundment of the two reservoirs, showing microseismic events and seismic clusters. We investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of seismic activities in the Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu reservoir areas using the waveform cross-correlation-based double-difference relocation technique and the b-value analysis method. We discovered that seismic events after the impoundment of these two reservoirs exhibited different characteristics in different regions. The seismic activities at the Xiluodu dam quickly responded to the rising water level, with the seismic intensity decaying rapidly afterward. These events were concentrated in the limestone strata along both sides of the Jinsha River, with a shallow focal depth, generally within 5 km, and a high b-value of approximately 1.2. Such features are close to those of karst-type earthquakes. Microseismic activities frequent occur on the eastern bank of the Yongshan reservoir section downstream of the Xiluodu dam, with two parallel NW-trending earthquake strips visible after precise earthquake relocation. The M_S5.2 earthquake near Wuji town on August 17, 2014, had prominent foreshocks and aftershocks distributed in a clear NW-trending 20-km-long strip, perpendicular to the riverbank. These seismic events had a low b-value of approximately 0.7. The orientation of the node plane revealed by the strike-slip focal mechanism of the mainshock is consistent with that of the strip formed by the foreshock-mainshock-aftershock sequence, indicating the existence of a NW-striking concealed fault. Seismic activities near the Yanjin-Mabian fault upstream of the Xiangjiaba reservoir area since 2013 were concentrated in a NW-trending strip, with several near EW-trending seismic clusters on its western side, and with the largest event having a magnitude of M_L3.7. So far, the impoundment of the Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu reservoirs has not triggered seismic activities on the large Jinyang-Ebian and Yanjin-Mabian faults nearby.     

Dynamics of Induced Seismicity during the Filling of the Nurek Reservoir

The seismological data in the area of induced seismicity in the region of the Nurek reservoir are analyzed. The analysis is based on the developed database for the earthquakes that occurred from 1955 to 1989 and is aimed at finding the regularities in the variations of the parameters of the transitional seismic regime caused by filling a reservoir. These parameters include the b-value—the slope of the graph of the Gutenberg–Richter frequency–magnitude relationship, the fractal dimension d of the set of the epicenters, and fracture cycle parameter q = αb ? d, where coefficient α determines the ratio between the magnitude and source size M = α log l + β. It is shown that during the filling of a reservoir, these parameters undergo statistically reliable variations: at the initial stages, the b-value increases, the fractal dimension of the set of epicenters decreases, and the fracture cycle parameter q grows and becomes positive in the middle of the time interval of reservoir filling. After a reservoir is filled, these parameters recover their background values. The aftershock sequences of the three strongest earthquakes—before, in the beginning, and in the middle of the reservoir filling period—are studied. It is confirmed that the Omori parameter p for the aftershock sequences during filling is smaller than for the earthquake before filling. Based on the dynamics of the studied parameters, it is conjectured that the relaxation time of the transitional seismic regime after the emergence of induced seismicity is about 10 years.     

Machine learning-based automatic construction of earthquake catalog for reservoir areas in multiple river basins of Guizhou province,China

Large reservoirs have the risk of reservoir induced seismicity. Accurately detecting and locating microseismic events are crucial when studying reservoir earthquakes. Automatic earthquake monitoring in reservoir areas is one of the effective measures for earthquake disaster prevention and mitigation. In this study, we first applied the automatic location workflow (named LOC-FLOW) to process 14-day continuous waveform data from several reservoir areas in different river basins of Guizhou province. Compared with the manual seismic catalog, the recall rate of seismic event detection using the workflow was 83.9%. Of the detected earthquakes, 88.9% had an onset time difference below 1 s, 81.8% has a deviation in epicenter location within 5 km, and 77.8% had a focal depth difference of less than 5 km, indicating that the workflow has good generalization capacity in reservoir areas. We further applied the workflow to retrospectively process continuous waveform data recorded from 2020 to the first half of 2021 in reservoir areas in multiple river basins of western Guizhou province and identified five times the number of seismic events obtained through manual processing. Compared with manual processing of seismic catalog, the completeness magnitude had decreased from 1.3 to 0.8, and a b-value of 1.25 was calculated for seismicity in western Guizhou province, consistent with the b-values obtained for the reservoir area in previous studies. Our results show that seismicity levels were relatively low around large reservoirs that were impounded over 15 years ago, and there is no significant correlation between the seismicity in these areas and reservoir impoundment. Seismicity patterns were notably different around two large reservoirs that were only impounded about 12 years ago, which may be explained by differences in reservoir storage capacity, the geologic and tectonic settings, hydrogeological characteristics, and active fault the reservoir areas. Prominent seismicity persisted around two large reservoirs that have been impounded for less than 10 years. These events were clustered and had relatively shallow focal depths. The impoundment of the Jiayan Reservoir had not officially begun during this study period, but earthquake location results suggested a high seismicity level in this reservoir area. Therefore, any seismicity in this reservoir area after the official impoundment deserves special attention.     

小浪底水库诱发地震监测及研究

利用2009年小浪底地震台网数字化改造后记录到的2009-2011年水库周围20 km范围内发生的地震,分析其时空分布特征以及其中61次地震的震源机制解。结果表明,小浪底水库存在诱发地震活动,以弱震和微震为主,最大M_L2.8。地震集中分布在2个丛集区,分别与库区的石井河断层、塔底断层有关。库区地震的张应力轴与构造背景最大主压应力轴方向基本一致,倾角30°左右,表明这些地震是在受到一定的相对直立压应力作用下发生的,可能与水库蓄水后库水载荷的长期作用有关。     

Seismicity study in Pournari reservoir area (W. Greece) 1981–2010

The spatial-temporal evolution of seismicity is examined, during the initial impoundment of Pournari reservoir located on Arachthos River (Western Greece), as well as for the next 30 years. The results show that, despite the relatively moderate-to-high seismicity from west to east, there is no remarkable earthquake in the vicinity before the first reservoir impoundment. Immediately after the impoundment (January 1981), and during the first 4 months, a considerable number of low-magnitude seismic events were recorded in the broader area of the dam. Moreover, two independent major events occurred on March 10, 1981 (M _L ?=?5.6) and April 10, 1981 (M _L ?=?4.7) with focal depths 13 and 10 km, respectively. The detailed analysis of the two corresponding aftershock sequences shows that they present different behaviors (e.g., larger b-value and lower magnitude of the main aftershock) than that of other aftershock sequences in Greece. This seismicity is probably due to triggering, via the water loading mechanism and the undrained response due to a flysch appearance on the reservoir basement. The activation of the thrust fault may be attributed to the bulging of evaporites that characterize the disordered structure of W. Greece, via possible water intake. The detailed processing of the recorded seismicity during the period 1982–2010, in comparison with the variations of Pournari Dam water level, shows an increase of shallow seismicity (h?≤?5 km) in the vicinity of the reservoir up to a 10-km distance—in contrast to the initial period, characterized by a number of deeper events due to the background response change from undrained to drained status.     

卡里巴水库蓄水引起库区应力场变化影响分析

水库地震是近几年国际上地震学和地球动力学领域研究的热点问题。 作为世界上库容最大的卡里巴(Kariba)水库在其蓄水后库区地震活动性不断增加, 并于1963年9月23日发生M6.1地震, 是世界上公认发生过6级以上水库地震的四大水库之一。 对该水库蓄水引起库区应力场变化进行量化估算, 有助于对特大—大型水库蓄水后库区应力场变化及应力触发地震这一基础性科学问题的深入了解。 本文分别应用解析解和数值解方法对卡里巴水库蓄水引起库区弹性应力场、 不排水和排水孔隙压力变化进行了计算分析。 结果表明, 卡里巴水库蓄水引起M6.1地震震源处孔压变化为0.015~0.22 MPa, 库仑应力变化约0.03~0.17 MPa, 触发了此次地震的发生。     

Characteristics of Seismicity in the Areas of Large Water Reservoirs and Waterfalls: The Role of Effects from Additional Load and Permanent Vibration

The characteristics of seismicity in the near vicinity of five large water reservoirs and three large waterfalls from different regions of the Earth are considered. It is found that in some cases induced seismicity manifests itself during the filling of reservoirs at quite large depths: in the lower crust and even in the upper mantle. There is negative correlation between the maximum magnitudes Мmax of the earthquakes recorded near water reservoirs and waterfalls and the water discharge in these objects (V _p ). The largest values of М_max are characteristic of earthquakes that occurred near Sarez Lake (Tajikistan) and the Koyna Reservoir (India), which have the lowest V _p ; in contrast, the smallest magnitudes are reported for earthquakes in the areas of the Khone Falls (Laos) and Niagara Falls (United States, Canada), where there are no large artificial water reservoirs, but huge water discharge takes place. The available data indicate that permanent vibration caused by falling water reduces the level of seismicity.     

On the Dynamics of the Seasonal Components of Induced Seismicity in the Koyna–Warna Region,Western India

The spatial and time dynamics are analyzed for the seasonal components of induced seismicity in the Koyna–Warna region of Western India. The peculiarities of the variations in these components are compared to the changes in the local tectonic regime inferred from the focal mechanism data of the earthquakes. Based on this, the hypotheses about the probable nature of the dynamics in the seasonal components of seismicity are suggested. It is noted that the variations in the seasonal seismic activity after the impoundment of the Koyna reservoir in the north are caused by the spatial migration of the induced seismicity and activation of the normal faults in the south. It is hypothesized that the process of fracture migration from the north to the south at this stage advanced the diffusion of the fluid from the Koyna reservoir, and as the water front reached the southern zone of normal faulting, this caused reactivation of the seasonal seismicity. An explanation is suggested for the stronger response of the seasonal activity in the region of Warna reservoir compared to the Koyna area: in contrast to Koyna, filling the Warna reservoir was geographically close to the area of activated seismicity. It is shown that the localization and sizes of the areas of the instantaneous and delayed components in the seasonal activity of the induced seismicity are determined by the localization and sizes of the areas of high stresses created by the increase in the pore pressure in highly permeable fault zones.     

Seismicity change associated with the impounding of major artificial reservoirs in Japan

The change in seismicity associated with the filling of artificial reservoirs was investigated for 42 high dams in Japan. Based on a careful statistical analysis, a significant change in seismicity was found for ten dam areas at the 90% confidence level; eight cases of an increase in earthquake occurrence, and two cases of a decrease. It was also found that dam area earthquakes show remarkable seasonality with peak activity in the season of high inflow into the reservoirs. These results strongly suggest an effect of reservoir filling on local seismicity. To consistently account for the different types of seismicity change, an increase or decrease in earthquakes in the post-impounding phase, we proposed a model of reservoir-induced seismicity where the composite effect of loading and permeation of water causes a variety of seismicity patterns. According to the model, an increase or decrease in earthquake occurrence are attributed to differences in the tectonic stress field and geological conditions in the vicinity of a reservoir.     

Induced stresses due to fluid extraction from axisymmetric reservoirs

Earthquakes can be induced by fluid extraction, as well as by fluid injection.Segall (1989) proposed that poroelastic stresses are responsible for inducing earthquakes associated with fluid extraction. Here, I present methods for computing poroelastic stress changes due to fluid extraction for general axisymmetric reservoir geometries. The results ofGeertsma (1973) for a thin disk reservoir with uniform pressure drop are recovered as a special case. Predicted surface subsidence agrees very well with measured leveling changes over the deep Lacq gas field in southwestern France. The induced stresses are finite if the reservoir pressure changes are continuous. Computed stress changes are on the order of several bars, suggesting that the preexisting stress states in regions of extraction induced seismicity are very close to frictional instability prior to production.     

鲁南地区地磁场近期变化与地震活动关系的研究

本对鲁南地区１５例流动地磁复测资料和周围有感地震活动的关系进行了较为系统的分析研究，并根据震例和近期地磁场的异常变化，讨论了该区未来地震趋势。