Generalization of PhaseNet in Shandong and its application to the Changqing M4.1 earthquake sequence

Waveforms of seismic events,extracted from January 2019 to December 2021 were used to construct a test dataset to investigate the generalizability of PhaseNet in the Shandong region.The results show that errors in the picking of seismic phases(P-and Swaves)had a broadly normal distribution,mainly concentrated in the ranges of−0.4–0.3 s and−0.4–0.8 s,respectively.These results were compared with those published in the original PhaseNet article and were found to be approximately 0.2–0.4 s larger.PhaseNet had a strong generalizability for P-and S-wave picking for epicentral distances of less than 120 km and 110 km,respectively.However,the phase recall rate decreased rapidly when these distances were exceeded.Furthermore,the generalizability of PhaseNet was essentially unaffected by magnitude.The M4.1 earthquake sequence in Changqing,Shandong province,China,that occurred on February 18,2020,was adopted as a case study.PhaseNet detected more than twice the number of earthquakes in the manually obtained catalog.This further verified that PhaseNet has strong generalizability in the Shandong region,and a high-precision earthquake catalog was constructed.According to these precise positioning results,two earthquake sequences occurred in the study area,and the southern cluster may have been triggered by the northern cluster.The focal mechanism solution,regional stress field,and the location results of the northern earthquake sequence indicated that the seismic force of the earthquake was consistent with the regional stress field.

ETAS Model Analysis on the Chang Island Earthquake Swarm in Shandong Province,China

Influenced by the layout of seismic network and the location of earthquakes,earthquake catalogs are often incomplete;such incompleteness of earthquake catalogue directly affects the analysis of sequence activity characteristics.In this paper,the GPU-acceleration-based g template matching method is used to scan the continuous waveforms of Chang Island earthquake swarm in Shandong Province from February 9 to August 20,2017.In total,15,286 earthquakes events were detected,which was more than 6 times compared with those in network catalogue and thus reduced the magnitude of completeness from 1.0 to 0.5.Based on the intergrated catalogue of earthquakes,the characteristics of Chang Island earthquake swarm were then analyzed using the Epidemic Type Aftershock Sequences(ETAS)model.The stochastic components in the ETAS model are used as a proxy for possible earthquake triggered by external forces(fluids).The results show that the proportion of earthquakes triggered by external forces of Chang Island swarm increases gradually(from 31.9%to 63.5%)and then decreases.The latter stage of swarm development is mainly affected by the self-excitation of earthquakes,suggesting that the fluids play an important role in the development of the Chang Island swarm.However,the triggering intensity of fluids to microseismicity is divergent in different periods,which may be related to the process of fluid permeation.

Tectonic activity and earthquake risk in the Chengnanhe fault zone in Weihai city,Shandong province,China,obtained by using an integrated prospecting technique in geophysics and geology

For city planning and reducing potential earthquake risk,it’s necessary to detect the information of the buried faults in an urban area especially,including the location and activities.An integrated technique with geophysical and geological methods,including the shallow seismic reflection profile,electrical resistivity measurement,geologic borehole section,and exploration trench,was used to detect the Chengnanhe fault,which is one of the two main faults passing through the Weihai urban area in Shandong province,China.The results show that it is a normal fault striking with E-W direction,and it is relatively inactive and stable.By using the thermoluminescence(TL)dating,we found that the Chengnanhe fault initiated in mid-Pleistocene and there was no offset after late Pleistocene.Such an integrated technique with multiple geological and geophysical methods provides a significant assessment of earthquake risk for city planning in urban areas.

Anomaly detection of earthquake precursor data using long short-term memory networks

Earthquake precursor data have been used as an important basis for earthquake prediction.In this study,a recurrent neural network(RNN)architecture with long short-term memory(LSTM)units is utilized to develop a predictive model for normal data.Furthermore,the prediction errors from the predictive models are used to indicate normal or abnormal behavior.An additional advantage of using the LSTM networks is that the earthquake precursor data can be directly fed into the network without any elaborate preprocessing as required by other approaches.Furthermore,no prior information on abnormal data is needed by these networks as they are trained only using normal data.Experiments using three groups of real data were conducted to compare the anomaly detection results of the proposed method with those of manual recognition.The comparison results indicated that the proposed LSTM network achieves promising results and is viable for detecting anomalies in earthquake precursor data.

Rushan earthquake swarm in eastern China and its indications of fluid-triggered rupture

An extraordinary earthquake swarm occurred at Rushan on the Jiaodong Peninsula from October 1, 2013, onwards, and more than 12,000 aftershocks had been detected by December 31, 2015. All the activities of the whole swarm were recorded at the nearest station, RSH, which is located about 12 km from the epicenter. We examine the statistical characteristics of the Rushan swarm in this paper using RSH station data to assess the arrival time difference, ts p, of Pg and Sg phases. A temporary network comprising 18 seismometers was set up on May 6, 2014, within the area of the epicenter; based on the data from this network and use of the double difference method, we determine precise hypocenter locations. As the distribution of relocated sources reveals migration of seismic activity, we applied the mean-shift cluster method to perform clustering analysis on relocated catalogs. The results of this study show that there were at least 16 clusters of seismic activities between May 6, 2014, and June 30, 2014, and that each was characterized by a hypocenter spreading process. We estimated the hydraulic diffusivity, D, of each cluster using envelope curve fitting; the results show that D values range between 1.2 and 3.5 m2/d and that approximate values for clusters on the edge of the source area are lower than those within the central area. We utilize an epidemic-type aftershock sequence （ETAS） model to separate external triggered events from self-excited aftershocks within the Rushan swarm. The estimated parameters for this model suggest that α = 1.156, equiva- lent to sequences induced by fluid-injection, and that the forcing rate （μ） implies just 0.15 events per day. These estimates indicate that around 3% of the events within the swarm were externally triggered. The fact that variation in μ is synchronous with swarm activity implies that pulses in fluid pressure likely drove this series of earthquakes.

Crustal structure beneath the central and western North China from receiver function analysis

The North China Craton(NCC)is one of the oldest cratons on earth.Several important tectonic transformations of MesozoicCenozoic tectonic regime led to the destruction of the North China craton.The knowledge of crustal structure can provide important constraints for the formation and evolution of cratons.New maps of sediment thickness,crustal thickness(H)and v_(P)/v_(S)(κ)in the central and western NCC were obtained using sequential H-κstacking.P-wave receiver functions are calculated using teleseismic waveform data recorded by 405 stations from Chin Array project.Benefiting from the densely distribution of temporary seismic stations,our results reveal details of the crustal structure in the study area.The thickness of sedimentary layer in North China ranges from 0–6.4 km,and the thickest sedimentary layer is in Ordos block and its surroundings(about 2.8–6 km);The thickness of sedimentary layer in the Mongolia fold belt and Yinshan orogenic belt is relatively thin(less than 1 km).The crustal thickness of the study area varies between 27–48 km,of which the crust of the North China Plain is about 30–33 km,the central NCC is about 33–40 km,and the Ordos block is 40–48 km thick.The average v_(P)/v_(S)ratios in the study area is mostly between 1.66 and 1.90,and that in the Yanshan-Taihang mountain fold belt is between 1.70 and 1.85,and that in the Ordos block is between 1.65 and 1.90,with an average value of 1.77,indicating the absence of a thick basaltic lower crust.The obvious negative correlation between crustal thickness and average v_(P)/v_(S)ratio within Ordos and Central Asia orogenic belt may be related to magmatic underplating during the crustal formation.There is no significant correlation between the crustal thickness and the v_(P)/v_(S)ratio in the Lüliang-Taihang mountain fold belt,which may be related to the multiple geological processes such as underplating and crustal extension and thinning in this area.The lack of correlation between crust thickness and topography in the central orogenic belt and the North China Basin indicates the topography of these areas are controlled not only by crustal isostatic adjustment but also by the lithospheric mantle processes.

A Quantitative Seismic Topographic Effect Prediction Method Based upon BP Neural Network Algorithm and FEM Simulation

Topography can strongly affect ground motion,and studies of the quantification of hill surfaces’topographic effect are relatively rare.In this paper,a new quantitative seismic topographic effect prediction method based upon the BP neural network algorithm and three-dimensional finite element method(FEM)was developed.The FEM simulation results were compared with seismic records and the results show that the PGA and response spectra have a tendency to increase with increasing elevation,but the correlation between PGA amplification factors and slope is not obvious for low hills.New BP neural network models were established for the prediction of amplification factors of PGA and response spectra.Two kinds of input variables’combinations which are convenient to achieve are proposed in this paper for the prediction of amplification factors of PGA and response spectra,respectively.The absolute values of prediction errors can be mostly within 0.1 for PGA amplification factors,and they can be mostly within 0.2 for response spectra’s amplification factors.One input variables’combination can achieve better prediction performance while the other one has better expandability of the predictive region.Particularly,the BP models only employ one hidden layer with about a hundred nodes,which makes it efficient for training.

Microseismic observations reveal that internal waves intensify seabed methane release

Internal waves transport material and energy from the upper water column to the deep ocean, disturbing seabed sediments and resulting in phenomena such as seabed erosion and changes in topography. On the northern slope of the South China Sea and in many coastal margins worldwide, the zones with internal wave action closely overlap with areas where natural gas hydrates are present. However, due to significant differences in the spatial and temporal scales, understanding the influence of internal waves on methane releases from deep seabeds is challenging. In this study, in situ observations of seabed microseismicity and internal waves are conducted at water depths of 655 meters and 1450 meters in the Pearl River Canyon of the South China Sea. The microseismicity caused by internal waves and seabed methane releases is identified, and a method to establish the correlation between internal waves and seabed methane releases through the use of microseismic recordings is proposed, aiming to obtain direct observational evidence of internal waves intensifying seabed methane releases. The results show that internal waves and seabed methane releases generate significant microseismic signals, indicating the continuous influence of internal waves on the deep seabed of the northern slope of the South China Sea and revealing active methane release phenomena on the seabed. At both long and short time scales, internal waves increase the frequency of seabed methane releases by 4.2 times and 2.4 times, respectively, while also enhancing the intensity of these releases. These changes are influenced by the alterations in seabed flow velocity, pressure, and temperature that are induced by internal wave activities. This study emphasizes that microseismic signals are effective carriers of information for multiscale geological processes on seabeds and suggests that internal waves exacerbate marine geological hazards and contribute to global climate change by intensifying seabed methane releases.

A review of seismo-electromagnetic research in China

The seismo-electromagnetic(EM)method is an important geophysical method that plays a major role in the observation of seismic anomalies related to earthquake precursors.It is the most promising method for a breakthrough in short-term earthquake prediction.The digital transformation and network upgrading implemented in the“Ninth five-year plan”and“Tenth five-year plan”have optimized the original observation system,improved the quality of observed data,enriched the seismicelectromagnetic information,and enhanced the analysis capability and timeliness of seismic-electromagnetic anomalies.These improvements are of major importance for the research on seismo-electromagnetics as well as for the development of new technologies.Since the beginning of the 21 st century,China has launched a satellite named CSES that was designed for the generation and study of seismo-electromagnetic data and built a high-power transmitting source and a new CSELF observation network that is used specifically for earthquake monitoring.This platform has promoted the full-time three-dimensional EM monitoring and the identification of earthquake anomalies.Based on the study of anomalies related to earthquake precursors,the physical and numerical simulations,and the study on generation mechanism of anomalies in China,we summarize the characteristics of earthquake EM anomalies and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different EM observation methods.Finally,considering the related questions of the seismo-electromagnetic prediction and implementing the recent developments both in China and abroad,we review the current status of seismo-electromagnetic research and propose strategies for future research.