Seismic Sequence Research Articles

Basin-scale multi-decadal analysis of hydraulic fracturing and seismicity in western Canada shows non-recurrence of induced runaway fault rupture

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a reservoir stimulation technique that has been widely deployed in recent years to increase the productivity of light oil and/or natural gas from organic-rich, low-permeability formations. Although the process of fracturing a rock typically results in microseismic events of magnitude < 0, many cases of felt seismic events (typically magnitude 3.0 or larger) have also been reported. In the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), where more than 40,000 wells have been drilled and hydraulically fractured in the past two decades, the occurrence of HF-induced events has surged in some areas. Yet, many other areas of the WCSB have not experienced a significant increase in induced seismicity, despite a sharp increase in both the number of HF wells and the volumes of injected fluid. The relationship between injected volume and induced magnitudes can be quantified using the seismic efficiency ratio (SEFF), which describes the ratio between the net seismic moment release and the injected fluid volume. Runaway rupture, in which the fault rupture is dominated by the release of accumulated tectonic stresses, is inferred to be marked by an abrupt increase in SEFF to a value > 0.5. Most previous studies of induced earthquakes have been limited to a single operation and/or seismicity sequence. To better understand the observed variability of the seismic response to HF stimulations at a basin scale, we compiled HF data for all unconventional wells hydraulic fractured in the WCSB between 2000 and 2020, together with the seismicity reported during the same period. We grouped these observations into bins measuring 0.2° in longitude and 0.1° in latitude, or approximately 13 by 11 km. We identified 14 areas where large magnitude events resulted in high SEFF values, implying runaway rupture had taken place. However, we find that in these areas, sustained fluid injection did not lead to persistent high SEFF values. Instead, as injection continued, SEFF values returned to values less than 0.5. This suggests that there is a limited budget of tectonic strain energy available to generate runaway rupture events: once this is released, event magnitudes decrease even if high volume injection persists.

Geotechnical reconnaissance of an extensive cover-collapse sinkhole phenomena of 2020–2021 Petrinja earthquake sequence (Central Croatia)

This article presents geotechnical reconnaissance data that characterize the formation of 122 new and 49 historical cover-collapse sinkholes within 1.13 km2 area in 12 months following the MW 6.4 earthquake that occurred on 29 December 2020, in Petrinja, Croatia. Data include a geological background, seismic sequence information, sinkhole geometric characteristics, rainfall data, and results of detailed geotechnical subsurface investigation. The sinkhole geometrical features were collected using aerial and satellite imagery, terrestrial lidar, and manual measurements. Soil properties and groundwater levels were obtained from four geotechnical boreholes, accompanied by in situ geotechnical characterization and standard penetration tests (SPTs). Soil parameters were obtained from consolidated undrained conventional triaxial compression, oedometer, soil water retention, and index tests performed on 31 soil samples. Clayey cover, 4–10 m thick, with sporadic gravel lenses overlying cavernous, intensely karstified carbonate rocks, characterizes the sinkhole area. Clays are mostly overconsolidated, with varying degrees of saturation ranging from very small to fully saturated. Seasonal and climate-induced variations in the groundwater table interact with artesian/subartesian karst aquifer, thus affecting the suction and the shear strength. Soil water retention curves (SWRCs) indicate that desaturation is possible for deeper groundwater tables, thus further affecting the effective stress, shear strength, and interparticle tensile forces. Finally, the observed vertical walls that accompanied sinkholes opening can occur in the overconsolidated cohesive cover clay layer with varying degree of saturation. The presented data provide essential geomechanical information necessary to understand the associated sinkhole failure mechanism. This article will help future investigators to perform detailed analyses and provide a background for complementing future sinkhole precursor research. Geotechnical, geological, seismic, and precipitation data generally indicate that the formation of cover-collapse sinkholes in the study area is a consequence of a specific local geological setting but is significantly expedited by earthquake-induced dynamic loading and complemented by multiple hydro-mechanical factors.

Seismic Sequence Vulnerability of Low-Rise Special Moment-Resisting Frame Buildings with Brick Infills

When buildings are exposed to earthquake sequence, damage aggravation is expected to occur. Although several studies report seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings under the mainshock–aftershock sequence, indicating damage aggravation due to aftershock, none, to the best of our knowledge, quantifies seismic vulnerability of buildings under foreshock–mainshock–aftershock sequences. Since foreshock–mainshock–aftershock sequences are also expected in many active seismic regions, we aim to quantify the level of vulnerability under seismic sequences considering the seismically highly active Himalayan region as the case study location. Fragility functions are derived considering foreshock, foreshock–mainshock sequence, and foreshock–mainshock–aftershock sequence for a low-rise special moment-resisting frame (SMRF) building that represents a typical low-rise owner-built construction system in Nepal, one of the most active seismic regions in the world. The results highlight that the foreshock significantly increases seismic vulnerability of the structures with respect to the often-considered case of a mainshock–aftershock sequence.

Discrete Fault Models

Fault surfaces are characterized by an inhomogeneous friction distribution, that can be represented with asperity models. Fault mechanics is dominated by asperities, so that a fruitful approach is to use discrete models, where asperities are the basic elements and the state of the fault is described by the average values of stress, friction and slip on each asperity. Under reasonable assumptions, the equations of motion can be solved analytically, with a deeper understanding of the behavior of the system. Fault dynamics has a sticking mode, where asperities are stationary, and a number of slipping modes, corresponding to the separate or simultaneous motion of asperities. Any seismic event is a sequence of slipping modes and a large variety of source functions is possible. Many large earthquakes are observed to be the consequence of the failure of two asperities: a discrete two-asperity model shows a rich dynamics and allows a detailed study of interaction between asperities. In this framework, fault evolution during coseismic and interseismic intervals can be calculated in terms of fault slip, stress state, energy release and seismic spectrum, including viscoelastic relaxation, fault creep and stress perturbations from other faults. Discrete models may include interaction between neighboring faults, allowing to assess conditions for the occurrence of seismic sequences in a fault system. A review of recent work on this subject is presented with applications to real earthquakes.

Short-term Bayesian ETAS spatiotemporal forecasting of the Ölfus 2008 earthquake sequence in Iceland

Strong earthquakes occurring frequently in south Iceland are always characterized by intense aftershock activity. The aftershock sequences cause progressive damages to structures and considerable psychological strain on inhabitants as the threat of upcoming large earthquakes looms. In this study, we apply a Bayesian epidemiological spatiotemporal aftershock sequence (ETAS) clustering model to forecast the aftershock sequence that commenced with the damaging 29 May 2008 Mw6.3 Ölfus earthquake. The forecast is carried out manually but in a framework of a provisional operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) system and based on an informative set of ETAS parameters derived from the strong June 2000 sequence in the region. We show that the short-term forecasts are unreliable at the early stages of the ongoing seismic sequence due to incomplete aftershocks collected to feed the Bayesian updating procedure of the ETAS model parameters, mainly during the first hours after the Ölfus mainshock. In contrast, issuing 24-h long forecasts, starting 6–8 h after the mainshock gives the best forecasting results. We allow the daily forecasts to adapt to the ongoing 2008 sequence using the adaptive prior estimation method, i.e., by assigning an informative prior distribution to ETAS parameters for the subsequent forecasting interval based on the preceding ETAS parameter posterior distributions. The parametric posteriors do not show narrow distributions, thus indicating inconsistent forecasting performance, both in stark contrast to the June 2000 sequence. Regardless, our results provide a quantitative estimate of the reliability of the forecasts which is a prerequisite for evaluating their usefulness to civil protection.

Spatiotemporal Variations in Earthquake Triggering Mechanisms During Multistage Hydraulic Fracturing in Western Canada

AbstractDense arrays deployed near the hydraulic fracturing (HF) wells greatly enhance the understanding of injection‐induced seismicity. In this study, we revisit the continuous recordings that are acquired by 69 three‐component nodes at an HF site in Alberta, Canada, taking advantage of a machine learning‐based seismic detection and location workflow. The obtained new earthquake catalog contains 21,619 events with relative location errors of &lt;1 m, which exceeds ∼20% of the number of earthquakes (18,040) reported previously (Igonin et al., 2021). This high‐resolution catalog reveals the distribution of earthquake sequences at much improved spatiotemporal resolution and illustrates several previously unmapped faults/fractures. Earthquake frequency‐magnitude distribution reveals that the average b value increases with depth from ∼1.1 above 3.5 km to ∼2.5 at greater depths. Further spatial analysis of seismic clusters indicates that the b value varies laterally (∼1–1.7) at shallow depths and is inversely related to the proximity to injection wells in conjunction with the change in structural types (i.e., reactivated fault and pre‐existing fracture). The seismic sequence on the north‐south oriented faults also shows a distinctive occurrence pattern and temporal affinity to the fracturing network reactivation between the two stages of HF operations. The change in faulting behavior could reflect a shift of dominating triggering mechanisms and physical processes from (a) the rapid diffusion of pore fluid pressure along pre‐existing fracture corridors to (b) the cascade migration of earthquake sequences in response to the cumulative Coulomb stress perturbation on the fluid‐lubricated, critically stressed faults.

Seismic Analysis of the 2020–2021 Santa Fe Seismic Sequence in the Granada Basin, Spain: Relocations and Focal Mechanisms

Abstract The 2020–2021 Santa Fe seismic sequence is the first well-instrumented and widely felt seismic series occurred in the Granada basin during the Spanish instrumental period since the 1979 Fuente Vaqueros seismic series and the 1955–1956 Armilla and Purchil destructive earthquakes. It began in December 2020 with an Mw 3.7 earthquake followed by five Mw&amp;gt;4 earthquakes between 23 and 28 January 2021 and a long sequence of aftershocks during the next four months. Over six months later, on 12 August, another large earthquake of magnitude 4.5 stroke the area to the southwest of Santa Fe city where the previous shocks occurred. This seismic sequence offers a unique opportunity to study the seismic activity in this region—one of the most seismically active zones and with the highest seismic hazard in the Iberian Peninsula. The wide station coverage and good-quality data available allows us to perform high-precision absolute and relative relocations and to obtain the seismic moment tensor (MT) and focal mechanism of the largest earthquakes. Relocation results reveal a clustered distribution of the seismicity between Santa Fe and Pinos Puente faults, focused on a depth range between 2 and 5 km. Hypocenters follow a near-vertical pattern, and Mw&amp;gt;4 events display a northeast–southwest-dipping trend that seems to fit Pinos Puente fault plane. However, regional MT solutions show predominant normal fault mechanisms, with minor oblique component but with strike and dip orientations more compatible to Santa Fe fault. To explain this apparent discrepancy with the known mapped active faults, we propose a change in dip of Santa Fe fault plane from near vertical at shallow depths, bended below the first kilometers, to a possible fault splay in depth compatible with the known geologic structure of the area.

Deep water sedimentary processes in the Enderby Basin (East Antarctic margin) during the Cenozoic

AbstractThe thick sequence of mid‐late Cenozoic sediments preserved within the Enderby Basin of the East Antarctica margin contains key information regarding glacial history and palaeo‐oceanographic conditions during the last 34 My. The interplay between glacial processes and ocean circulation can be reconstructed from seismic stratigraphic studies. Here, interpretation of seismic sequences and geomorphology from an extensive 2D seismic dataset (∼75,000 km) are correlated with lithological data of the ODP site 1165 drilled on the continental rise, and used to assess the age and origin of the sediment, and the possible influence of oceanic currents on its distribution. Mapping of seismic units and facies reveals that, in addition to glacial sediments derived from the Antarctic mainland, the upper Cenozoic succession includes drift units with prograding sequences building out from the Mac. Robertson Land margin, west of the Prydz Bay. Three contourite drifts grew on the western side of submarine channels and large sediment wave fields suggest a mixed system of turbidity currents influenced by west‐flowing bottom currents. The drifts are composed of four seismic units representing stages of onset (Lower Oligocene), main growth (Early‐Middle Miocene), maintenance (Middle‐Late Miocene) and burial (Pliocene). The internal geometry and reflection patterns of the drifts imply an intensified current activity from the Early to Middle Miocene. The results plausibly reflect that the formation of proto Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) started around the Eocene–Oligocene boundary and intensified episodically from the early to middle Miocene.

Source scaling comparison and validation in Central Italy: data intensive direct Swaves versus the sparse data coda envelope methodology

SUMMARY Robustness of source parameter estimates is a fundamental issue in understanding the relationships between small and large events; however, it is difficult to assess how much of the variability of the source parameters can be attributed to the physical source characteristics or to the uncertainties of the methods and data used to estimate the values. In this study, we apply the coda method by Mayeda et al. using the coda calibration tool (CCT), a freely available Java-based code (https://github.com/LLNL/coda-calibration-tool) to obtain a regional calibration for Central Italy for estimating stable source parameters. We demonstrate the power of the coda technique in this region and show that it provides the same robustness in source parameter estimation as a data-driven methodology [generalized inversion technique (GIT)], but with much fewer calibration events and stations. The Central Italy region is ideal for both GIT and coda approaches as it is characterized by high-quality data, including recent well-recorded seismic sequences such as L'Aquila (2009) and Amatrice–Norcia–Visso (2016–2017). This allows us to apply data-driven methods such as GIT and coda-based methods that require few, but high-quality data. The data set for GIT analysis includes ∼5000 earthquakes and more than 600 stations, while for coda analysis we used a small subset of 39 events spanning 3.5 &amp;lt; Mw &amp;lt; 6.33 and 14 well-distributed broad-band stations. For the common calibration events, as well as an additional 247 events (∼1.7 &amp;lt; Mw &amp;lt; ∼5.0) not used in either calibration, we find excellent agreement between GIT-derived and CCT-derived source spectra. This confirms the ability of the coda approach to obtain stable source parameters even with few calibration events and stations. Even reducing the coda calibration data set by 75 per cent, we found no appreciable degradation in performance. This validation of the coda calibration approach over a broad range of event size demonstrates that this procedure, once extended to other regions, represents a powerful tool for future routine applications to homogeneously evaluate robust source parameters on a national scale. Furthermore, the coda calibration procedure can homogenize the Mw estimates for small and large events without the necessity of introducing any conversion scale between narrow-band measures such as local magnitude (ML) and Mw, which has been shown to introduce significant bias.

Earthquake Fingerprint of an Incipient Subduction of a Bathymetric High

AbstractThe resistance of bathymetric highs to subduction results in large‐scale morphological distortions of the outer‐rise, trench, and fore‐arc regions. Once subducted, bathymetric highs induce frictional segmentation along the plate interface that may result in increase or decrease of the plate coupling. However, the mechanics of the collision is inferred mostly from geophysical and geological surveys since earthquakes rarely illuminate finer details of the subduction of seafloor relief. A year‐long and energetic seismic sequence at the Loyalty Ridge (LR)‐Vanuatu Trench allowed us to characterize how strain is released along the collision zone. Earthquakes revealed complex fracturing in the outer‐rise and fore‐arc regions and segmentation of the interface with both limited magnitude events and aftershock productivity. The complex earthquake activity associated to the collision and subduction of the LR appears to support a frictionally segmented interface where Mw ≥ 8 megathrust earthquakes are unlikely to nucleate.

Holistic Modelling of Loss and Recovery for the Resilience Assessment to Seismic Sequences

Earthquakes typically occur in time-space clusters. Classical probabilistic seismic risk analysis, only consider the prominent magnitude earthquakes within each cluster. This implicitly corresponds to neglect that, for exposed infrastructure, the clustering behavior of seismic events may, on one hand, cause damage accumulation and prolonged business interruption and, on the other hand, may delay or disrupt the repair and recovery processes. In the paper, a Markov-chain-based model, able to describe both loss and recovery during aftershock sequences is presented. It preserves most of the benefits of the classical approach and can be extended to enable modelling of peculiar resilience features such as delay in recovery initiation.

Satellite-Observed Thermal Anomalies and Deformation Patterns Associated to the 2021, Central Crete Seismic Sequence

Nowadays, there has been a growing interest in understanding earthquake forerunners, i.e., anomalous variations that are possibly associated with the complex process of earthquake evolution. In this context, the Robust Satellite Technique was coupled with 10 years (2012–2021) of daily night-time MODIS-Land Surface Temperature remote sensing data to detect thermal anomalies likely related to the 27 September 2021, strong onshore earthquake of magnitude Mw6.0 occurring near the Arkalochori village in Central Crete, Greece. Eight intense (signal-to-noise ratio &gt; 3) and infrequent, quite extensive, and temporally persistent thermal signal transients were detected and characterized as pre-seismic anomalies, while one thermal signal transient was identified as a co-seismic effect on the day of the main tectonic event. The thermal anomalies dataset was combined with tectonic parameters of Central Crete, such as active faults and fault density, seismogenic zones and ground displacement maps produced using Sentinel-1 satellite imagery and the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technique. Regarding the thermal anomaly of 27 September, its greatest portion was observed over the footwall part of the fault where a significant subsidence up to 20 cm exists. We suggest that the thermal anomalies are possibly connected with gas release which happens due to stress changes and is controlled by the existence of tectonic lines and the density of the faults, even if alternative explanations could not be excluded.

Semi-automated stochastic simultaneous simulation of macroseismic information and strong ground motion records for recent strong earthquakes of the Aegean area

We apply a stochastic simulation approach for the simultaneous modeling of macroseismic data and strong ground motion records for several shallow strong earthquakes (M ≥ 6.0) that occurred in the Aegean area from 1980 to 1995 Alkyonides (1981, M6.7), Kalamata (1986, M6.0), Kozani (1995, M6.6) and Aigio (1995, M6.4). The application is semi-automatic, as several of the selected input parameters for the stochastic simulation modeling were automatically calibrated using a priori information (e.g., magnitude, stress parameter, site effects). Other parameters (e.g., fault type, depth) were pre‑determined, based on published information, most of which are usually derived during standard earthquake analysis. The validity and reliability of this approach was examined, to test if this method could be applied either in a fully automated manner, or for the study of source properties of historical earthquakes. While the results obtained from the semi-automated simulations were satisfactory, they also suggest that it is not possible to achieve the same level of reliability and robustness when modeling complicated seismic sequences, as e.g., is the case of the Alkyonides earthquake (1981, M6.7).

The 8 April 1860 Jour de Pâques Earthquake Sequence in Southern Haiti

ABSTRACT The grave threat posed by the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone (EPGFZ) and other fault systems on the Tiburon Peninsula in southern Haiti was highlighted by the catastrophic M 7.0 Léogâne earthquake on 12 January 2010 and again by the deadly M 7.2 Nippes earthquakes on 14 August 2021. Early Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar observations suggest the 2021 earthquake broke structures associated with this fault system farther west of the 2010 event, but the rupture zones of both events are separated by a ∼50 km gap. This sequence provided the impetus to reconsider a nineteenth century earthquake that may have occurred within this gap. Though previous studies identified a single moderately large event on 8 April 1860, original sources describe a complex and distributed seismic sequence to the west of Port-au-Prince. These provide evidence for an initial event to the west of Les Cayes, on the southern coast of the Tiburon Peninsula. This was followed on the morning of 8 April 1860 by a damaging earthquake near l’Anse-à-Veau along the northern coast of the peninsula, which was succeeded 14 hr later by a larger mainshock to the east. Although locations cannot be determined precisely from extant macroseismic data, our preferred scenario includes an intensity magnitude (MI)∼6.2 foreshock, followed by an MI∼6.8 mainshock wholly or partially on the EPGFZ to the east of the foreshock. Our results suggest that, although earthquakes tend to trigger subsequent earthquakes on immediately neighboring fault segments, sequences can include gaps due to strain release by poorly characterized earthquakes in the historic past. We also document 83 aftershocks to the 1860 earthquake sequence, including a previously unknown damaging shock, estimated MI∼6.6, on 10 April 1860 near Jérémie, farther west of l’Anse-à-Veau.

S-Wave Attenuation Variation and its Impact on Ground Motion Amplitudes During 2016–2017 Central Italy Earthquake Sequence

A very energetic seismic sequence struck the central Apennines, Italy, in 2016–2017, with a series of damaging earthquakes, three of them with moment magnitudes M ≥ 5.9, and five of them with M ≥ 5.0, occurred over a few months between 24 August 2016, and late 2017. Several studies explained the phenomenon of a cascading earthquake sequence with fluid movements that provoked the rupture of different parts of the fault segments at different times and locations (e.g., Miller, Nature, 2004, 427, 724–727; Gabrielli, Frontiers in Earth Science, section Structural Geology and Tectonics, 2022; Malagnini, Frontiers in Earth Science, section Solid Earth Geophysics, 2022). In this study, we investigated the variation of crustal S-wave attenuation in terms of the frequency-dependent quality factor Q(f) before and after the main events (including the Amatrice, Visso, and Norcia sub-sequences, hereafter, AVN, and periods before and after the AVN multi-mainshock sequence). The spectral characteristics of regional attenuation in the central Apennines, as well as of the earthquake sources of the AVN sequence, are derived through regression analysis using a large set of seismograms; Q(f) is modeled, together with the bilinear geometrical spreading, g(r), using a widely used tool, namely, random vibration theory, RVT (Cartwright and Longuet-Higgins, 1956). The primary objective of this effort was to examine how the variability of crustal anelastic attenuation would impact the earthquake-induced ground motions. The latter is quantified in terms of peak ground accelerations (PGAs), peak ground velocities (PGVs), and pseudo spectral accelerations (PSAs) at 0.3 and 2 s . Here, we showed that the main events of the AVN sequence strongly affect crustal S-wave attenuation, including its frequency dependence. However, the effects of 1/Q(f) fluctuations on earthquake-induced ground motions are small and have a negligible impact on the seismic hazard.

A new endurance time analysis method for damage evaluation of high arch dams under the oblique incidence of mainshock-aftershock seismic sequences by wavelet decomposition

Pulse and oblique incidence features that may be generated by near-fault seismic sequences are neglected in current earthquake-resistant design codes for arch dams. To solve the shortcomings of endurance time analysis method which cannot consider near-fault pulse-like ground motions, this paper attempted to develop a new endurance time analysis method by wavelet decomposition to assess the differences in damage mechanisms of arch dams under the cross-stream and stream oblique incidences of near-fault seismic sequences. This study decomposed a typical near-fault earthquake into high-frequency and low-frequency ground motion through wavelet decomposition, which is used to perform several nonlinear dynamic analyses under different seismic intensities and seismic sequence incidence angles. On the basis of dynamic calculations, the local and global damage indices of the dam were presented, with a focus on the comparison of the damage distribution and damage volume ratios of arch dams under the action of single and sequence earthquakes and by analysing the damage mechanisms of arch dams under two diagonal incidence conditions at different peak accelerations. Then, the effects of different frequency components of ground motions on dam damage indices were compared, and finally, additional damage to the dam after the mainshock damage was quantified for various aftershocks. The proposed novel prediction model was used to estimate aftershock damage by considering mainshock damage. The numerical results indicate that the dam damage development is highly complex during original mainshock cross-stream and stream oblique incidences. This finding differs from dam damage that spread from the downstream face to the upstream face during the vertical incidence. The dam damage degree is smaller for the original mainshock stream oblique incidence than for the original mainshock cross-stream oblique incidence. The original aftershock induces stronger damage requirements on the damaged dam during the mainshock than during the high-frequency aftershock. Original and high-frequency seismic sequences with cross-stream and stream oblique incidences do not contribute to variations in dam damage patterns during aftershocks. Therefore, the influence of near-fault pulse impacts and the oblique incidence angle of seismic sequences need to be considered comprehensively in the seismic calculations and reinforcement studies of arch dams.

Fast Changes in Seismic Attenuation of the Upper Crust due to Fracturing and Fluid Migration: The 2016–2017 Central Italy Seismic Sequence

The Amatrice–Visso–Norcia seismic sequence struck Central Italy across the Apenninic normal fault system in 2016. Fluids likely triggered the sequence and reduced the stability of the fault network following the first earthquake (Amatrice, Mw 6.0), with their migration nucleating the Visso (Mw 5.9) and Norcia (Mw 6.5) mainshocks. However, both spatial extent and mechanisms of fluid migration and diffusion through the network remain unclear. High fluid content, enhanced permeability, and pervasive microcracking increase seismic attenuation, but different processes contribute to different attenuation mechanisms. Here, we measured and mapped peak delay time and coda attenuation, using them as proxies of seismic scattering and absorption before and during the sequence. We observed that the structural discontinuities and lithology control the scattering losses at all frequencies, with the highest scattering delineating carbonate formations within the Gran Sasso massif. The Monti Sibillini thrust marks the strongest contrasts in scattering, indicating a barrier for northward fracture propagation. Absorption does not show any sensitivity to the presence of these main geological structures. Before the sequence, low-frequency high-absorption anomalies distribute around the NW-SE-oriented Apennine Mountain chain. During the sequence, a high-absorption anomaly develops from SSE to NNW across the seismogenic zone but remains bounded north by the Monti Sibillini thrust. We attribute this spatial expansion to the deep migration of CO2-bearing fluids across the strike of the fault network from a deep source of trapped CO2 close to the Amatrice earthquake. Fluids expand SSE-NNW primarily during the Visso sequence and then diffuse across the fault zones during the Norcia sequence.

Ground-penetrating radar attenuation compensation by Gabor deconvolution: Seismogenic fault imaging at Castelluccio di Norcia (Central Italy)

We test a seismic nonstationary Gabor deconvolution (GD) algorithm on synthetic and experimental ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles to evaluate how well this algorithm increases vertical resolution and removes attenuation effects from GPR data. Our field data set has been collected across a seismogenic fault in Central Italy, detecting this tectonic structure several years before the 2016–2017 seismic sequence which struck the region and produced coseismic ruptures along the same fault trace. We find that GPR mixed-phase data respond very well to the application of GD in comparison with the conventional and more standard Wiener-spiking deconvolution workflows. We observe a clear increase of the coherence and sharpness of reflection events as well as of hyperbolic diffractions in the fault zone. Gabor-processed GPR data significantly increase the GPR potential to image active Quaternary faults, therefore contributing to the definition of seismotectonic context and to seismic hazard assessment of a study region. We propose the use of the GD to increase interpretability of GPR profiles not only for the identification of tectonic structures but also to achieve high-quality images of the near surface in many GPR applications.

Source Characteristics and Path Attenuation for the Yangbi, China Seismic Sequence in 2021

Source Characteristics and Path Attenuation for the Yangbi, China Seismic Sequence in 2021

3D digital outcrop model-based analysis of fracture network along the seismogenic Mt. Vettore Fault System (Central Italy): the importance of inherited fractures

The Mt. Vettore area is located in the Central Apennines (Italy), a region characterized by intense seismic activity that has recorded multiple moderate-to-high magnitude seismic sequences. The seismic activity is due to the presence of normal fault systems, among which is the Mt. Vettore Fault System (VFS), which was last activated during the 2016-17 Central Italy seismic sequence.. Moreover, the region has experienced three major tectonic phases over geological history, thus it is important to unravel their contribution to the current fracture network. Based on the integration of field observation with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - Digital Photogrammetry data, we aim to analyze the fracture network on eight different outcrops located at different structural positions with respect to VFZ. Results show that the Late Miocene−Early Pliocene compressional phase deeply affected the present-day fracture pattern, which is especially related to the evolution of the Mt. Sibillini regional thrust and its related anticline. The present-day Quaternary extensional phase, and the associated normal faults, mostly reactivate some of the pre-existing fracture sets.