Temporal change in permeability of the Nojima fault zone by repeated water injection experiments

Abstract

Three boreholes were drilled near the Nojima fault, which the 1995 Hyogoken–Nanbu earthquake occurred on. In order to research the properties and the healing process of the fault, water injection experiments were conducted every 3 years. In this report, we researched the permeability of the fault as a measurement of crack density or porosity of the fault zone. Pore water pressure changes in rock due to the water injections at one borehole were observed as discharge changes or groundwater level changes at the other borehole. Using numerical calculations, the permeability of the fault fracture zone was estimated for each experiment. The permeability has been decreasing as time passed, which is thought to show the fault healing process of the Nojima fault after the 1995 Hyogoken–Nanbu earthquake.