Source Mechanisms of Recent Earthquakes in Southern Saudi Arabia: Detecting of New Seismic Sources

Recently in 2020, in southern Saudi Arabia three felt earthquakes occurred in Asir region, in the Khamis Mushait, Ahad Rafidah, and AL-Shuqiq area, of magnitude 3.45, 3.1, and 3.5, respectively. The most interesting event was the earthquake that occurred in Khamis Mushait area, along a lake formed behind the Tadhah Dam (~7 km), fearing any damage to the dam’s body and the consequent destruction. Moment tensors for each event were computed for determining fault plane solutions, seismic moment, moment magnitude (Mw) and the CLVD ratio. In addition, the frequency contents in the waveforms of each event were identified. The obtained focal mechanisms represent different styles of faulting, normal movement with strike slip and strike slip with reverse. These tectonic movements on faults parallel to the Red Sea refer to the tensional forces due to the Red Sea rift system. These events occurred due to a natural tectonic movement, with considering the Khamis Mushait event as an induced event because of the lake behind the Dam. Many previous seismic hazard assessment studies have been conducted in southern Saudi Arabia without considering these recent seismic sources. Thus, our study provides new information related to detecting of new active seismic sources, which contributes to updating studies of seismic risk assessment in this region. In addition, our study pushes us to establish other additional seismic stations around these new seismic sources. This in turn will play a pivotal role in controlling seismic sources and then reassessing the seismic hazard in southern Saudi Arabia.

Three-dimensional analytical solution of acoustic emission or microseismic source location under cube monitoring network

To find the analytical solution of the acoustic emission/microseismic(AE/MS) source location coordinates, the sensor location coordinates were optimized and simplified. A cube monitoring network of sensor location was selected, and the AE/MS source localization equations were established. A location method with P-wave velocity by analytical solutions (P-VAS) was obtained with these equations. The virtual location tests show that the relocation results of analytical method are fully consistent with the actual coordinates for events both inside and outside the monitoring network; whereas the location error of traditional time difference method is between 0.01 and 0.03 m for events inside the sensor array, and the location errors are larger, which is up to 1080986 m for events outside the sensor array. The broken pencil location tests were carried out in the cross section of 100 mm×98 mm, 350 mm-length granite rock specimen using five AE sensors. Five AE sources were relocated with the conventional method and the P-VAS method. For the four events outside monitoring network, the positioning accuracy by P-VAS method is higher than that by the traditional method, and the location accuracy of the larger one can be increased by 17.61 mm. The results of both virtual and broken pencil location tests show that the proposed analytical solution is effective to improve the positioning accuracy. It can locate the coordinates of AE/MS source only using simple four arithmetic operations, without determining the fitting initial value and iterative calculation, which can be solved by a conventional calculator or Microsoft Excel.

Weighted-elastic-wave interferometric imaging of microseismic source location

Knowledge of the locations of seismic sources is critical for microseismic monitoring. Time-window-based elastic wave interferometric imaging and weighted- elastic-wave （WEW） interferometric imaging are proposed and used to locate modeled microseismic sources. The proposed method improves the precision and eliminates artifacts in location profiles. Numerical experiments based on a horizontally layered isotropic medium have shown that the method offers the following advantages： It can deal with Iow-SNR microseismic data with velocity perturbations as well as relatively sparse receivers and still maintain relatively high precision despite the errors in the velocity model. Furthermore, it is more efficient than conventional traveltime inversion methods because interferometric imaging does not require traveltime picking. Numerical results using a 2D fault model have also suggested that the weighted-elastic-wave interferometric imaging can locate multiple sources with higher location precision than the time-reverse imaging method.

Seismological method for prediction of areal rockbursts in deep mine with seismic source mechanism and unstable failure theory

The research on the rock burst prediction was made on the basis of seismology,rock mechanics and the data from Dongguashan Copper Mine(DCM) ,the deepest metal mine in China.The seismic responses to mining in DCM were investigated through the analyses of the spatio-temporal distribution of hypocenters,apparent stress and displacement of seismic events,and the process of the generation of hazardous seismicity in DCM was studied in the framework of the theory of asperity in the seismic source mechanism.A method of locating areas with hazardous seismicity and a conceptual model of hazardous seismic nucleation in DCM were proposed.A criterion of rockburst prediction was analyzed theoretically in the framework of unstable failure theories,and consequently,the rate of change in the ratio of the seismic stiffness of rock in a seismic nucleation area to that in surrounding area,dS/dt,is defined as an index of the rockburst prediction.The possibility of a rockburst will increase if dS/dt>0,and the possibility of rock burst will decrease if dS/dt<0.The correctness of these methods is demonstrated by analyses of rock failure cases in DCM.

Microseismic source location using the Log-Cosh function and distant sensor-removed P-wave arrival data

Source location is the core foundation of microseismic monitoring.To date,commonly used location methods have usually been based on the ray-tracing travel-time technique,which generally adopts an L1 or L2 norm to establish the location objective function.However,the L1 norm usually achieves low location accuracy,whereas the L2 norm is easily affected by large P-wave arrival-time picking errors.In addition,traditional location methods may be affected by the initial iteration point used to find a local optimum location.Furthermore,the P-wave arrival-time data that have travelled long distances are usually poor in quality.To address these problems,this paper presents a microseismic source location method using the Log-Cosh function and distant sensor-removed P-wave arrival data.Its basic principles are as follows:First,the source location objective function is established using the Log-Cosh function.This function has the stability of the L1 norm and location accuracy of the L2 norm.Then,multiple initial points are generated randomly in the mining area,and the established Log-Cosh location objective function is used to obtain multiple corresponding location results.The average value of the 50 location points with the largest data field potential values is treated as the initial location result.Next,the P-wave travel times from the initial location result to triggered sensors are calculated,and then the P-wave arrival data with travel times exceeding 0.2 s are removed.Finally,the aforementioned location steps are repeated with the denoised P-wave arrival dataset to obtain a high-precision location result.Two synthetic events and eight blasting events from the Yongshaba mine,China,were used to test the proposed method.Regardless of whether the P-wave arrival data with long travel times were eliminated,the location error of the proposed method was smaller than that of the L1/L2 norm and trigger-time-based location method(TT1/TT2 method).Furthermore,after eliminating the Pwave arrival data with long travel distances,the location accuracy of these three location methods increased,indicating that the proposed location method has good application prospects.

A GIS-based time-dependent seismic source modeling of Northern Iran

： The first step in any seismic hazard study is the definition of seismogenic sources and the estimation of magnitude-frequency relationships for each source. There is as yet no standard methodology for source modeling and many researchers have worked on this topic. This study is an effort to define linear and area seismic sources for Northern Iran. The linear or fault sources are developed based on tectonic features and characteristic earthquakes while the area sources are developed based on spatial distribution of small to moderate earthquakes. Time-dependent recurrence relationships are developed for fault sources using renewal approach while time-independent frequency-magnitude relationships are proposed for area sources based on Poisson process. GIS functionalities are used in this study to introduce and incorporate spatial- temporal and geostatistical indices in delineating area seismic sources. The proposed methodology is used to model seismic sources for an area of about 500 by 400 square kilometers around Tehran. Previous researches and reports are studied to compile an earthquake/fault catalog that is as complete as possible. All events are transformed to uniform magnitude scale; duplicate events and dependent shocks are removed. Completeness and time distribution of the compiled catalog is taken into account. The proposed area and linear seismic sources in conjunction with defined recurrence relationships can be used to develop time-dependent probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of Northern Iran.

Cepstrum analysis of seismic source characteristics

This paper introduces the concept of cepstrum. By investigating the difference in source characteristics between earthquakes and explosions the paper infers the manifestation of source difference in various variable domains, and seeks for effective means to express such source difference. Extending the approach of source discrimination from time and frequency domain to the cepstrum domain, the paper proposes a method of cepstrum analysis for recognizing the characteristics of seismic sources and establishes criteria for identifying the type of seismic sources. Cepstrum analysis on some recent earthquakes and explosions has been made, and the result shows that the method is quite effective in practice.

Demarcation of potential seismic sources on integration of genetic algorithm and BP algorithm

In this paper potential seismic sources in coastal region of South China are identified by integration of genetic algorithm (GA) and back propagation (BP algorithm). GA is used for finding the best parameter combination rapidly in an infinite solution space for artificial neural networks (ANN). The results show that the distribution of potential seismic sources with different upper magnitude demarcated by this classifier is mostly satisfied the intrinsic relationship between seismic environment and earthquake occurrence, with less effect from subjective judgment of human being.

The Principle and Method for Delineation of Potential Seismic Sources in Northwest Yunnan

Based on the collection and analysis of achievements of other scholars, and by consulting the results of seismic safety evaluation of engineering sites and field surveys of recent years, the seismotectonic indicators are determined for northwest Yunnan and its vicinity, and then potential seismic sources are further delineated. In practice, the following principles are applied: for areas with strong historical earthquakes, the recurrence principle is used to determine the upper bound magnitude; for areas with distinct seismogenic structure but no historical strong earthquake records, the tectonic analogy principle is used in the light of the size and activity behavior of the structure; for areas where the segmentation of the active fault is well studied, the potential sources will be demarcated more precisely; and for areas with buried fault, the seismicity pattern and geophysical abnormity are used to determine the direction of the major axis of the potential seismic source.

Application of Characteristics of Seismogenic Structures in the Determination of Parameter of Potential Seismic Source Areas

The characteristics of seismogenic structures are an important basis for delineating the potential seismic source areas and determining the annual occurrence rate of earthquakes. The potential seismic source area does not only have the intension that “this area has the possibility for destructive earthquakes to occur in the future" but also means that earthquakes of high magnitude interval have the characteristics of similar recurrence. When determining the seismic activity parameters of a statistical unit, some active tectonic blocks in the unit may have different background earthquakes. In order to better reflect the heterogeneity in space of seismic activities, it is necessary to divide the potential seismic source areas into three orders. By analyzing the recurrence characteristics of earthquakes of high magnitude interval in the potential source area and calculating the occurrence probability of earthquakes of high magnitude interval in the potential seismic source area in the time window for prediction, the average annual occurrence rate of earthquakes can be obtained by the method of probability equivalent conversion in the time window for prediction. This would be helpful for considering the recurrence characteristics of strong earthquakes in potential source areas within the framework of seismic risk analysis of China. Besides, the insufficient frequency of characteristic earthquakes of the next high magnitude interval in the potential source area and the heterogeneity of strong earthquakes on seismogenic structures are analyzed to see their application in seismic risk analysis.

Artificial Neural Network Method Based on Expert Knowledge and Its Application to Quantitative Identification of Potential Seismic Sources

In this paper,an approach is developed to optimize the quality of the training samples in the conventional Artificial Neural Network(ANN)by incorporating expert knowledge in the means of constructing expert-rule samples from rules in an expert system,and through training by using these samples,an ANN based on expert-knowledge is further developed.The method is introduced into the field of quantitative identification of potential seismic sources on the basis of the rules in an expert system.Then it is applied to the quantitative identification of the potential seismic sources in Beijing and its adjacent area.The result indicates that the expert rule based on ANN method can well incorporate and represent the expert knowledge in the rules in an expert system,and the quality of the samples and the efficiency of training and the accuracy of the result are optimized.

On electro-acoustic characteristics of a marine broadband sparker for seismic exploration

The construction of major marine infrastructure projects and the exploration and development of deep-sea mineral resources require fine imaging of seabed strata and structures.The highresolution marine seismic exploration based on a high broadband sparker source is an important approach to reveal seabed stratum and reservoir structure,and identify geohazard.To optimize the performance of sparker seismic source,we investigated the electro-acoustic characteristics of spark discharge under conditions of different charging voltages and electrode numbers.Results show that the sound source level increased with the increase of the charging voltage,whereas the main frequency decreased when the charging voltage increases.In addition,it was found that the charging capacitance had more obvious influence on the main frequency than the sound source level did.Although the load energy decreased with increasing electrode number,the sound source level still increased but the main frequency decreased.Meanwhile,the primary to bubble(P/B)ratio increased with the increase of the electrode number.To gain a deeper insight into the electro-acoustic characteristics,we investigate the relationship between sound source level and power peak,from which a good correlation was observed.A more practical statistical analysis on the rise rate of current was processed,and a perfect logarithmic function was derived.Furthermore,we found that the main frequency was most possibly subjected to the electrical energy,especially the charging energy per electrode.The results indicate that the charging energy per electrode less than 10 J could increase the main frequency to above 300 Hz.At last,the main frequency could be reduced to 20 Hz when the charging energy of a single-electrode discharge was enhanced to over 4 kJ.This study shall be helpful in developing a sparker seismic source and improving the performance for marine engineering exploration and geohazard assessment.

Hcable for Time-Lapse Seismic Monitoring of Marine Carbon Capture and Storage

To ensure project safety and secure public support, an integrated and comprehensive monitoring program is needed within a carbon capture and storage(CCS) project. Monitoring can be done using many well-established techniques from various fields, and the seismic method proves to be the crucial one. This method is widely used to determine the CO_(2) distribution, image the plume development, and quantitatively estimate the concentration. Because both the CO_(2) distribution and the potential migration pathway can be spatially small scale, high resolution for seismic imaging is demanded. However, obtaining a high-resolution image of a subsurface structure in marine settings is difficult. Herein, we introduce the novel Hcable(Harrow-like cable system) technique, which may be applied to offshore CCS monitoring. This technique uses a highfrequency source(the dominant frequency>100 Hz) to generate seismic waves and a combination of a long cable and several short streamers to receive seismic waves. Ultrahigh-frequency seismic images are achieved through the processing of Hcable seismic data. Hcable is then applied in a case study to demonstrate its detailed characterization for small-scale structures. This work reveals that Hcable is a promising tool for timelapse seismic monitoring of oceanic CCS.

Active source monitoring at the Wenchuan fault zone:coseismic velocity change associated with aftershock event and its implication

With the improvement of seismic observation system, more and more observations indicate that earthquakes may cause seismic velocity change. However, the amplitude and spatial distribution of the velocity variation remains a controversial issue. Recent active source monitoring carried out adjacent to Wenchuan Fault Scientific Drilling （WFSD） revealed unambiguous coseismic velocity change associated with a local M8 5.5 earthquake. Here, we carry out forward modeling using two-dimensional spectral element method to further investigate the amplitude and spatial distribution of observed velocity change. The model is well constrained by results from seismic reflection and WFSD coring. Our model strongly suggests that the observed coseismic velocity change is localized within the fault zone with width of ~ 120 m rather than dynamic strong ground shaking. And a velocity decrease of -2.0 % within the fault zone is required to fit the observed travel time delay distribution, which coincides with rock mechanical experiment and theoretical modeling.

Seismic source ruptures of several strong earth-quakes of 1989 in Sichuan region of China

Several strong earthquakes occurred in the regions of Batang and Xiaojin of Sichuan Province in 1989. This paper uses broadband waveform data from GDSN, by the forward trial-and-error modeling for multiple subevent, in terms of analysis on quasi-source time function or qSTF of station, to study source rupture characteristics of these strong earthquakes and to discuss tectonic background of earthquake occurrence regions preliminarily.

ComprehensiveanalysesofseismicsourcelayerinXingtaiandTangshanseismicregionsandtheconditionsofmediaab

Statistic analyses of sectional focal depth frequency relation for 1739 M S≥4.0 events in North China, 541 M S≥4.0 events in Xingtai seismic region and 999 M S≥4.0 events in Tangshan seismic region have been carried out for the first step of the study. Then the sectional focal depth frequency diagrams (H N diagram) for each region were obtained. The study shows that: (1) The intraplate earthquakes in North China occur within the continental crust, and are mainly concentrated within a certain depth range of the middle and upper crust, making up a seismic source layer; (2) The seismic source layer consists of a main layer and an auxiliary layer adjacent to it. The tops and bottoms of the main and auxiliary layers correspond to the G and C, as well as to B and G geologic boundaries respectively; (3) The H N diagrams for Xingtai and Tangshan seismic regions are significantly different from each other, indicating the regionality and localization of the seismic source layers; (4) DSS and MTS observations show that the regionality and localization of the seismic source layer depend mainly on the environment of the deep structures of the region; (5) The seismic source layer is a substance of medium layer, which can be related to the brittle ductile transition zone within the crust. The seismic source layer is also a stress conducting layer. As the media above and below this layer are subjected to failure or flowage, then the stress will concentrate in the stress conducting layer, in which the earthquake occurs.

Active source seismic imaging on near-surface granite body:case study of siting a geological disposal repository for high-level radioactive nuclear waste

In order to research whether it is suitable to set a geological disposal repository for high-level radioactive nuclear waste into one target granite body,two active source seismic profles were arranged near a small town named Tamusu,Western China.The study area is with complex surface conditions,thus the seismic exploration encountered a variettraveltimey of technical difculties such as crossing obstacles,de-noising harmful scattered waves,and building complex near-surface velocity models.In order to address those problems,techniques including cross-obstacle seismic geometry design,angle-domain harmful scattered noise removal,and an acoustic wave equation-based inversion method jointly utilizing both the and waveform of frst arrival waves were adopted.The fnal seismic images clearly exhibit the target rock’s unconformable contact boundary and its top interface beneath the sedimentary and weathered layers.On this basis,it could be confrmed that the target rock is not thin or has been transported by geological process from somewhere else,but a native and massive rock.There are a few small size fractures whose space distribution could be revealed by seismic images within the rock.The fractures should be kept away.Based on current research,it could be considered that active source seismic exploration is demanded during the sitting process of the geological disposal repository for nuclear waste.The seismic acquisition and processing techniques proposed in the present paper would ofer a good reference value for similar researches in the future.

Preface to the Special Issue on Advances in Seismic Exploration and Monitoring with Active Sources in China

Analyzing the information carriede by seismic waves is a major means for human beings to have an insight into the structure of the earth’s interior,and by using artificial seismic sources to excite seismic waves,we can obtain high-resolution images for the crustal and smaller scale medium.Artificial seismic exploration methods have been widely applied to fields such as

Three-dimensional analytical solution of acoustic emission source location for cuboid monitoring network without pre-measured wave velocity

To find analytical solutions of nonlinear systems for locating the acoustic emission/microseismic（AE/MS） source without knowing the wave velocity of structures, the sensor location coordinates were simplified as a cuboid monitoring network. Different locations of sensors on upper and lower surfaces were considered and used to establish nonlinear equations. Based on the proposed functions of time difference of arrivals, the analytical solutions were obtained using five sensors under three networks. The proposed analytical solutions were validated using authentic data of numerical tests and experiments. The results show that located results are consistent with authentic data, and the outstanding characteristics of the new solution are that the solved process is not influenced by the wave velocity knowledge and iterated algorithms.

Proposal of Indonesia Seismic Hazard Deaggregation Maps for Sumatra, Indonesia

The new method for determining ground-motion parameters in the Indonesian Earthquake Resistant Building Code SNI （Indonesia National Standard） 03-1726-2012 has significant changes than the previous code. The maps of mean and modal of magnitude and distance presented here are intended to convey information about the distribution ofprobabilistic seismic sources and to provide prescriptions or suggestions for seismic sources to use in developing artificial ground motion in building design or retrofit projects. This paper presents deaggregation of Indonesia Seismic Hazard Map 2010 for Sumatra. Deaggregation for 0.2-s and 1.0-s pseudo SA （spectral acceleration） is performed for 10% PE （probability of exceedance） in 50 years （475-year mean return period） and 2% PE in 50 years （2,475-year mean return period）. The information of deaggregation analysis can and perhaps should be considered in a complex seismic-resistant design decision-making environment.