Magnitude-Based Discrimination of Man-Made Seismic Events from Naturally Occurring Earthquakes in Utah, USA

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burlacu R ; Hale, Janet M. ; Koper KD ; McCarter MK ; Pankow KL ; Pechmann JC ; Roberson P ; Stein J
• Description:
  We investigate using the difference between local (ML) and coda/duration (MC) magnitude to discriminate man-made seismic events from naturally occurring tectonic earthquakes in and around Utah. For 6846 well-located earthquakes in the Utah region, we find that ML-MC is on average 0.44 magnitude units smaller for mining-induced seismicity (MIS) than for tectonic seismicity (TS). Our interpretation of this observation is that MIS occurs within near-surface low-velocity layers that act as a waveguide and preferentially increase coda duration relative to peak amplitude, while the vast majority of TS occurs beneath the near-surface waveguide. A second data set of 3723 confirmed or probable explosions in the Utah region also has significantly lower ML-MC values than TS, likely for the same reason as the MIS. These observations suggest that ML-MC is useful as a depth indicator and could discriminate small explosions and mining-induced earthquakes from deeper, naturally occurring earthquakes at local-to-regional distances. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Mining-induced Seismicity Earthquakes Geologic Strata Geophysics Geotechnical Engineering Mining Engineering
• ISSN:
  0094-8276
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 8 ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  20
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069127
• Citation:
  Geophys Res Lett 2016 Oct; 43(20):10638-10645
• Contact Point Address:
  Keith D. Koper, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
• Email:
  koper@seis.utah.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  University of Utah
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110622
• Source Full Name:
  Geophysical Research Letters
• End Date:
  20160622
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a1bcad1530e43a1ff3ae33d11dd8a4260f6cc762e46a3fbbfcb06950d1e075cbbac9af73c718e19625042d31724f99dbd0c1b69b476abdff413656f03e10d8c5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207664/cdc_207664_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1019.71 KB ]