Waveform inversion and analysis of an unusual earthquake swarm in the Boshan mining area, Shandong Province, China

Moment tensor solutions were retrieved for the earthquake swarm that occurred during November and December 2010 in the Boshan mining area, Shandong Province, China. The results showed that the double-couple components in the source mechanisms were higher at the beginning of the swarm and consisted mainly of shear faulting controlled by tectonic stress. The subsequent events had significant non-double-couple components, indicating tensile faulting. The double-couple components predominately presented as normal faulting and the P axes were orientated almost vertically. The slip vectors of the swarm events were relatively stable. With reference to the tectonic features near the epicenter, we concluded that the swarm was a result of subordinate fault motion related to the Wangmu Mountain fault and that high-pressure pore fluids played a crucial role in the activity of the earthquake swarm.

Relocation of Earthquakes in Shandong and Its Neighboring Areas,China and Its Relationship with Active Tectonics

Earthquakes taking place from 1975 to 2010 in and around Shandong Province are relocated using double-difference(HypoDD)and Hypoinvers 2000(Hypo2000)methods,after correction of the onset times of seismic phases.The results show that the relocated seismicity is clearly associated with regional tectonics in space,and is also in agreement with the existence of deep faults imaged by wide-angle and deep seismic reflection profiling;most of the focal depths are in the range of 5～25km,and there are clearly two predominant depths:10km and 16km,which are inferred to be on the bottom of the upper crust and in the middle crust,respectively.The pattern of seismic activity indicates that moderate and strong earthquakes are likely to occur in the brittle-ductile transition zone between the upper and the lower crust,as the outcome of the deep tectonic dynamic process and the movement and deformation of faults in the upper and shallow crust under the regional stress field.

Variational characteristics of shear-wave splitting on the 2001 Shidian earthquakes in Yunnan, China

In 2001 three earthquakes occurred in Shidian in Yunnan Province, which were the MS=5.2 on April 10, the MS=5.9 on April 12 and the MS=5.3 on June 8. Based on the data from the station Baoshan of Yunnan Telemetry Digital Seismograph Network, the variational characteristics of shear-wave splitting on these series of strong earthquakes has been studied by using the systematic analysis method (SAM) of shear-wave splitting. The result shows the time delays of shear-wave splitting basically increase with earthquake activity intensifying. However the time delays abruptly decrease immediately before strong aftershocks. It accords with the stress relaxation before earthquakes, which was found recently in study on shear-wave splitting. The result suggests it is significant for reducing the harm degree of earthquakes to develop the stress-forecasting on earthquake in strong active tectonic zones and economic developed regions or big cities under the danger of strong earthquakes.

Fault plane parameters of Tancheng M81/2 earthquake on the basis of present-day seismological data

The great Tancheng earthquake of M81/2 occurred in 1668 was the largest seismic event ever recorded in history in eastern China. This study determines the fault geometry of this earthquake by inverting seismological data of present-day moderate-small earthquakes in the focal area. We relocated those earthquakes with the double-difference method and found focal mechanism solutions using gird test method. The inversion results are as follows： the strike is 21.6°, the dip angle is 89.5°, the slip angle is 170°, the fault length is about 160 km, the lower-boundary depth is about 32 km and the buried depth of upper boundary is about 4 km. This shows that the seismic fault is a NNE-trending upright right-lateral strike-slip fault and has cut through the crust. Moreover, the surface seismic fault, intensity distribution of the earthquake, earthquake-depth distribution and seismic-wave velocity profile in the focal area all verified our study result.

Variational characteristics of shear-wave splitting on the 2001 Shidian earthquakes in Yunnan, China

In 2001 three earthquakes occurred in Shidian in Yunnan Province, which were the MS=5.2 on April 10, the MS=5.9 on April 12 and the MS=5.3 on June 8. Based on the data from the station Baoshan of Yunnan Telemetry Digital Seismograph Network, the variational characteristics of shear-wave splitting on these series of strong earthquakes has been studied by using the systematic analysis method (SAM) of shear-wave splitting. The result shows the time delays of shear-wave splitting basically increase with earthquake activity intensifying. However the time delays abruptly decrease immediately before strong aftershocks. It accords with the stress relaxation before earthquakes, which was found recently in study on shear-wave splitting. The result suggests it is significant for reducing the harm degree of earthquakes to develop the stress-forecasting on earthquake in strong active tectonic zones and economic developed regions or big cities under the danger of strong earthquakes.

Spatial distribution features of sequence types of moderate and strong earthquake in Chinese mainland

Based on 294 earthquake sequences with magnitude greater than or equal to 5.0 occurred in Chinese mainland since 1970, the spatial distribution features of sequence types have been studied. In southwestern China, it takes mainshock-aftershock sequence type （MAT） as the major in Chuan-Dian rhombic block and concerned Xianshuihe-Anninghe-Xiaojiang seismic belt, as well as in Jinshajiang-Honghe seismic belt. Multiple mainshock type （MMT） mainly distributes in western Yunnan, and Longlin and Lancang areas in Tengchong-Baoshan block in west of Nujiang-Lancangjiang fault zone. A few isolated earthquake type （IET） mainly occurred in northwestern Sichuan and there is no IET occurred in Yunnan region. In northwestern China, it takes mainshock-aftershock sequence type （MAT） as the major in west segment of South Tianshan in Xinjiang region. Some MMT also occurred in this area in the intersection of Kalpin block and the Puchang fault zone. It takes IET as the major in middle Tianshan in Xinjiang. Along the Qilianshan seismic belt, most of sequences are MAT. In Qinghai region, it takes MAT as the major, but the regional feature of the spatial distribution of sequence types is not very clear. In North China, it takes MAT as the major in Yinshan-Yanshan-Bohai seismic belt, north edge of North China, and in Hebei plain seismic belt, as well as in sub-plate of lower river area of Yangtze River. In intersection of north segment of Shanxi seismic belt and the NW-trending Yinshan-Yanshan-Bohai seismic belt, there are several moderate or strong MMT with magnitude from 5.0 to 6.0 occurred. In south of North China around the latitude line of 35°N, it takes IET as the major. The spatial distribution of sequence types is relevant to the patterns of tectonic movements. MAT is mostly produced by the ruptures of locked units or asperities or the neonatal separating segments inside the fault zones. MMT is generally relevant to the conjugate structures or intersection of many tectonic settings. Further extension of simple fault often produces IET. Spatial distribution of sequence types is also correlative to the regional and deep environment of crustal medium to some extent. MAT mainly distributes in high velocity area in upper crust or in the transition zone between high velocity area and low velocity area, MMT mostly occurred in the low velocity area in upper crust.

Statistical features of aftershock distribution size for moderate and large earthquakes in Chinese mainland

Based on data of earthquake sequences with Ms≥5.0 in Chinese mainland from 1970 to 2004, for different sequence types and different rupture modes of the main shock, the relationship between aftershock distribution size R and the magnitude of the main shock Mo has been studied statistically. Considering the rupture mode of the main shock, we give the quantitative statistical relationships between R and Mo under 95% confidence level for different sequence typos. Qualitatively, lgR, the logarithm of the aftershock distribution size, is positively correlative to the M0, but the data distribution is dispersed. Viewing from different sequence typos, the correlation between R and M0 is very weak for isolated earthquake type （lET） sequence, R distributes in the range from 5 to 60 km; For mainshock-aftershock type （MAT）, lgR is positively correlative to M0; For multiple main shock type （MMT）, the corelation between lgR and M0 is not very obvious when M0≤6.2 and R distributes in the range from 5 to 70 km, while it shows a linear correlation when M0≥6.3. The statistical results also show that the occupational ratios of different sequence types for strike-slip and oblique slip are almost the same. But for dip-slip （mostly are thrust mechanisms）, the ratio of MAT is higher than that of IET and MMT. Comparing with previous results, it indicates that, when M0 is large enough, R is mainly determined by M0 and there is almost no relationship with the rupture mode of the main shock.

A Detection Method of Earthquake Precursory Anomalies Using the Four-Component Borehole Strainmeter

Strainmeters have been used to detect earthquake precursory anomalies in many countries. An innovated four-component strainmeter with four sensing units set at 45 degrees intervals, named SKZ strainmeter, was developed and used in China. The design, with a few unique features, allows high-sensitivity monitoring of the regime of the crustal strain field, as well as the self-consistencies of the instrument. One of the most difficult problems in the earthquake precursory investigation is to efficiently detect anomalies from large amount of data. Pattern recognition of waveforms is widely used, but it is time-consuming and relies more or less investigator’s experience and decision. In this study, the consistency factors of the paired components were firstly shown to be utilized to detect anomalies possibly related with imminent earthquakes. Here, rather than using the consistency factors, the correlation coefficients of the two orthogonal strain data were used to detect. SKZ strainmeters have been installed at more than ten sites in China, exhibited high efficiency and reliability in precursory monitoring since. Anomalous variations from a few stations during two recent earthquakes in south China were analyzed. During normal stages, diurnal earth tides could be clearly observed with very little urban noises. Though the consistency factors may have near constant bias, their correlation coefficients remain near 1.0, greater than 0.99. During the imminent preparatory stage of earthquake occurrence, non-planar strain may appear and the correlation coefficients drop noticeably. The analysis showed that the correlation coefficient between the two orthogonal components is a useful parameter in post-processing of the strain data to detect precursory anomalies. The resultant resolving power is shown to be some one-order larger compared with previous methods.

Abnormal Phenomena of Volume Strain before Large Earthquakes

This paper studies the imminent anomalies observed by the Sacks volume strainmeter in Erzhangying station and Tiantanghe station before 80 earthquakes with Ms≥ 7. 0 which took place from January 2011 to April 2014 all over the world. Then, preconditions for anomaly identification are put forward for complex earthquake cases. Statistical results show that volume strain observation has a better earthquake reflecting ability for earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 7. 0 and epicentral distance within 8000kin. In addition, these results also reflect that the volume strain observation can better reflect precursory anomalies of such earthquakes. Based on categorization and description of those anomalies, we divide the anomalies into three types, that is, earth tide distortion type, abrupt change type and slow earthquake type. Furthermore, the paper makes a statistical analysis of these types and preliminarily discusses their mechanical properties as well. According to research, volume strain anomaly has an indicative significance to future strong earthquakes in the world.

Region-time-length algorithm and its application to the study of intermediate-short term earthquake precursor in North China

The Region-Time-Length Algorithm (RTL algorithm) is introduced and improved in the paper. Compared with the original definition, the influence of rupture length on RTL function is emphasized and the weights of epicentral distance function, time function, and rupture length function are ensured to be equal. The retrospective examinations of RTL algorithm in North China have indicated that the anomalies obtained by the improved RTL algorithm show the short or intermediate-short term precursory features in most cases. There are two types of RTL anomalous patterns before the main shock. For the I-type, the variation pattern of the VRTL, numerical values of the VRTL(x, y, z, t) function, is complete and most of them have shown the changing pattern of rising from 0 turning dropping or dropping from 0 turning rising. For the II-type, the variation pattern of VRTL is not complete, which increases or decreases quickly from 0 and there is no evident turning, the main shock generally occurs in the short period around the peak VRTL. The rising of VRTL indicates an increase of seismic activity relative to the background level, which means the enhancement of seismic activity, while the dropping of VRTL indicates the decrease of seismic activity relative to the background level, which represents the seismic quiescence to a certain extent. According to statistical examination results of RTL algorithm in North China, the methods to distinguish the intermediate and short-term anomalies and to estimate the occurrence time of the coming main shock are given in the paper. For both I and II-type RTL anomalies, the R-value, i.e., the forecasting score, is about 0.6 and 0.3 for the 3 months forecasting period and about 0.7 and 0.4 for the 6 months forecasting period. The preliminary discussion is also made for the influences of characteristic time-span t0, characteristic distance r0, and threshold magnitude M0 on computation of VRTL, as well as some other significant problems in application.

A recent paleoearthquake on Qingfengling seismic fault of Tanlu fault zone

Introduction The Tanlu fault zone lies in the eastern China, which is an important huge active fault with a long history. It has experienced a complex generation and evolution process and affects significantly the regional structure, paleogeography, magma activity, minerogenesis and earthquake activity in the area. With a length of 2 400 km, the fault zone consists of 2-4 or more parallel faults of 10-40 km in width, cutting through different geotectonic elements in the eastern China （FANG et al, 1986）. On July 25 in 1668, an extraordinarily large earthquake of M=8.5 occurred on the Changyi-Dadian fault （F1） that is an embranchment of Tanlu fault zone, resulting in a surface rupture with a total length of 130 km （LI et al, 1994; CHAO et al, 1995）. The paleoseismic study reveals that 3 events with a magnitude equal to 8 occurred on the Changyi-Dadian fault. The recent event occurred 3 500 a ago and the reoccurrence interval is about 3 500 a （LIN and GAO, 1987）. During the Tancheng earthquake （on July 25, 1668）, the Anqiu-Juxian fault was not ruptured, which was a Late Pleistocene active fault （ZHENG et al, 1988; GAO et al, 1988; CHAO et al, 1994） and was doubted as the seismogenic fault of the M=7.0 Anqiu earthquake occurred in 70 BC by certain geologists （CHAO et al, 1994）.

Parameter estimation of the stochastic AMR model and its application to the study of several strong earthquakes

Based on the stochastic AMR model, this paper constructs man-made earthquake catalogues to investigate the property of parameter estimation of the model. Then the stochastic AMR model is applied to the study of several strong earthquakes in China and New Zealand. Akaikes AIC criterion is used to discriminate whether an accelerating mode of earthquake activity precedes those events or not. Finally, regional accelerating seismic activity and possible prediction approach for future strong earthquakes are discussed.

Multifractal characteristics of spatiotemporal distribution of earthquakes in intraplate and interplate regions

This paper analyzes the multifractal characteristics of spatio-temporal distribution of generalized strain release of earthquakes （GSRE） occurred in the eastern and western Chinese mainland （as an instance of intraplate region）, Taiwan region and New Zealand （as an instance of interplate region）. The results show that the multifractal characteristics of GSRE are closely related to the geodynamic environment. For the temporal distribution of strong events, the clustering feature is more evident in the interplate regions than that in the intraplate regions, while for small and moderate events, this difference is ambiguous. For the spatial distribution of strong earthquakes, the clustering feature is usually clearer in the intraplate regions than that in the interplate regions, while for small and moderate events, the case is just opposite.

Preliminary study on characteristics of earthquake precursor of earth resistivity anisotropy degree in East China

Introduction The degree of earth-resistivity anisotropy was described (MAO, et al, 1995, 1998) as follows: S=|1\nn∑I=1(ρSN\ρEW)I|-1|×103 n=6(1) whereρNS and ρEW are monthly mean values of earth resistivity in the direction of NS and EW, respectively, S is the half-year value. Equation (1) shows that if ρNS=ρEW, then S =0 and the electrical property of medium is isotropic; if ρNS≠ρEW, then S≠0 and the electrical property of medium is anisotropic. When S increases, the anisotropy of electrical property of medium is enhanced. Because the rightside of equation (1) is absolute value and the possibility ofρNS＞ρEW and ρNS＜ρEW can be different at different stations, the increase or decrease of S cannot reflect the relative changes between ρNS and ρEW. FENG, et al (2000) defined S as follows:……

On Application of Big Data Mining in Earthquake Precursor Observation

Research and application of big data mining,at present,is a hot issue. This paper briefly introduces the basic ideas of big data research, analyses the necessity of big data application in earthquake precursor observation,and probes certain issues and solutions when applying this technology to work in the seismic-related domain. By doing so,we hope it can promote the innovative use of big data in earthquake precursor observation data analysis.

Characteristic Analysis of Anomalies of Strong Earthquakes along the Tancheng-Lujiang Fault Zone and Both Its Sides

This article made a systematic statistical analysis on the duration,spatial distribution,form,range,type and reliability of precursory anomalies based on the observations of precursors of 24 moderate-strong earthquakes occurring along the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone and its bilateral areas in Shandong,Liaoning,Hebei,Jiangsu and Jiangxi Provinces in the period from 1966 to 2005. Results show that:( 1) For M7. 0 and M6. 0earthquakes,med-term abnormities are the greatest in number,short-term abnormities come second,and imminent anomalies are the least. For M5. 0 earthquakes,short-term abnormities are often the most in number,imminent anomalies come second,and the med-term ones are the least.( 2) Precursory anomalies are periodical,part of the med and short-term anomalies are shown as short-term and imminent anomalies during their development.( 3) The development of precursor shows quasi-synchronism; the closer to earthquake occurrence time,the more turning changes of anomalies will appear.( 4)Anomalies mainly occur within an epicenter distance of 100 km, showing a relative concentrated distribution in space,and the shorter the distance to epicenter,the higher the anomaly station / item rate.( 5) The spatial distribution of anomalies is relatively correlated to the strike of structures,having a good consistency with the structure.( 6)There is no significant correlation between duration of abnormities and the epicenter distance.( 7) The higher the magnitude of the earthquake,the greater the amplitude of the abnormities measured with the same observation approach.( 8) In terms of the itemsof the observations,fluid abnormities are the greatest in number,followed by deformation and electromagnetism observations.( 9) For all observation items,med and short-term abnormities make up the majority and short-term and imminent anomalies the minority.( 10) In fluid,deformation and electromagnetism observations,fairly reliable anomalies are about double the number of reliable anomalies.

Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between Macroscopic Anomalies and Earthquakes

Macroscopic anomalies from"Earthquake Cases in China"are statistically analyzed in this paper. The conclusion is as follows: The probability of occurrence of macroscopic anomalies before earthquakes increases with magnitude. The larger the earthquake magnitude, the more macroscopic anomalies appear. The temporal distribution of macroscopic anomalies is as follows: There are few macroscopic anomalies at beginning; as time goes on,the number of macroscopic anomalies increases; the increase of macroscopic anomaly quantity accelerates with the impending earthquake and reaches a climax when the earthquake breaks out. The spatial distribution pattern of macroscopic anomalies is as follows: macroscopic anomalies appear at the epicenter at the beginning,then spread out,and finally arise explosively at the epicenter area.

The Preliminary Analysis of the Characteristics of Geomagnetic Harmonic Wave Amplitude Ratios before the Gaoyou-Baoying MS4.9 Earthquake

In this paper,the Gaoyou-Baoying M_S4.9 earthquake was analyzed by the geomagnetic harmonic wave amplitude ratios method. The earthquake was an isolated seismic event,before and after which there were no other earthquakes occurred in this region. The dense distribution of geomagnetic observataries provided an advantage condition for the analysis of characteristics of the geomagnetic harmonic amplitude ratios. The analysis results verify the former knowledge of anomaly characteristics of the geomagnetic harmonic amplitude ratio,that is,the anomalous characteristics of the earthquake mostly appeared during the decline-turning-recovery rising process. The results also show that the change of the anomalies was asynchronous at the observatories close to the epicenter, namely, the anomalous characteristics were different between the H and the D components,as well as between the long and short periods.

Intensive Observation of Reservoirinduced Seismicity and Preliminary Analysis on the Causes of Earthquakes in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area,Yangtze River

In accordance with the requirements of the National Key Technology R＆D Program of the 11th ＂Five-year Plan＂, a densified seismic network consisting of 26 seismic stations was established at the Three Gorges Reservoir area in the section of Hubei Province in March 2009 （21 short-period seismographs, 5 broadband digital seismographs）. From March to December, 2009, a total of 2,995 ML -0. 8 - 2. 9 earthquakes were detected during the trial impounding of the Three Gorges Reservoir （ water level rose from 145 m to 172.8m）. Using the double difference earthquake location algorithm, 2,837 earthquakes were precisely re-located. The results show that the pattern of small local earthquake swarms in the Three Gorges Reservoir area took on a linear distribution or mass-like cluster distribution, the mass-like clusters of events were generally within a distance of 5 km from waterfront, and the linear distribution of the earthquakes could be extended to a distance of 16 km away from the waterfront. In the Hubei section of the Three Gorges Reservoir, earthquakes were mainly concentrated in the northern end of the Xiannvshan and Jiuwanxi faults near the Xiangxihe River, and along the banks of the Yangtze River at the west of Xietan township and the Shenlongxi area on the northern bank in the Badong region, with focal depths less than 10km, and 4km in average. Earthquake frequency in the reservoir region had a positive correlation with reservoir water level fluctuations, indicating that the seismicity belongs to reservoir induced earthquakes. Along the Shenlong River in the reservoir area, earthquakes showed three linear distributions in the northern Badong county, and distributed according to Karst distribution. There are underground rivers in the carbonate strata. When the reservoir was impounded, water permeated into the underground rivers, thus inducing earthquakes. Earthquakes in the areas on the crossriver segment of Xiannvshan fault, the Jiuwanxi fault and at the areas west of Xietan, Shazhen and Xizhen, may be related to the softening of discontinuities, such as the Nukou fault, the Xiannvshan fault, or the bedding joints, which would lead to failure of rock masses, thus, inducing earthquakes. However, convincing conclusions about the triggering mechanism still need further study. Additionally, near the areas south of Wenhua and Yanglin of Zigui county and at Rangkou town east of Badong county, mininginduced earthquakes occurred at the mines nearby, and on the shores of the reservoir are some collapse earthquakes.

Characteristics of Strain Release before Large Earthquakes of M≥7. 0 in the Chinese Mainland

The enumerating algorithm has been introduced into the fitting procedure of the ASR model. Based on the detailed study of 21 large earthquakes with M≥6. 8 in the Chinese Mainland,the statistical features of seismic strain release before large earthquakes have been summarized. In the mass,the strain release models can be divided into five types. The first is the DA model,in which the strain release accelerates in broader areas and decelerates in small areas around the epicenter. Approximately 38% of earthquake samples are of this type. The second is the AD model,in which the strain release decelerates in broader areas and accelerates in smaller areas around the epicenter with an occupying ratioof approximately 19%. The third is ASR,in which only accelerating strain release can be observed. Cases of this model amount to about 14%. The fourth is DSR,in which only decelerating strain release can be checked,amounting to about 24%. There is only one earthquake sample of the fifth type (LSR),which shows a linear strain release. There is a 3～6 years difference in the duration of pre-shock sequences between the accelerating and decelerating models. This means that seismic quiescence against a background of increased seismicity of small earthquakes before large earthquakes are a typical feature in general. For the DA model,the average size of critical regions for steady accelerating and decelerating strain release is about 260km to 400km and 100km to 200km,respectively,3 to 5 times and 1 to 2 times the rupture size of an earthquake of magnitude 7. 0. The AD model is the opposite of the DA model. The model parameter,m value,has good stability. The ratio of ASR is about the same for accelerating seismic strain release phenomena,no matter what the strain release models are,or how large the strain release quantity is. With regard to decelerating seismic strain release phenomena, the DA model has the most distinctive decelerating strain release characteristic and is the typical feature of seismic strain release,i. e. "decelerating in-accelerating out seismic strain model".