Global quieting of high-frequency seismic noise due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures

Human activity causes vibrations that propagate into the ground as high-frequency seismic waves. Measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread changes in human activity, leading to a months-long reduction in seismic noise of up to 50%. The 2020 seismic noise quiet period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record. While the reduction is strongest at surface seismometers in populated areas, this seismic quiescence extends for many kilometers radially and hundreds of meters in depth. This provides an opportunity to detect subtle signals from subsurface seismic sources that would have been concealed in noisier times and to benchmark sources of anthropogenic noise. A strong correlation between seismic noise and independent measurements of human mobility suggests that seismology provides an absolute, real-time estimate of population dynamics

2-D Heterogeneous Structure in Eastern Hokkaido Inferred from S-wave Coda Amplification Factors

We examined 2-D heterogeneous structure in the eastern Hokkaido region, using the S-wave coda amplification factor (CAF) with seismic storong-motion date of Kyoshin Net(K-NET). CAF is defined as the spectral ratio of coda waves among different stations after corrections for source, site, and overall propagation.(i.e,cada-Q) effects. Confirming that code-Q values are nearly independent of both source and station, the site effect at each station was esetimated by the coda-normalization method. The source effect was removed by taking the spectral ratio of S-wave coda among stations for each earthquake. We evaluated the CAF value of each source-station pair for three components,using 95 seismograms for five local earthquakes recorded at 21 stations of K-NET. A map of CAF values at the frequency band of 16 Hz shows a systematic variation, implying that heterogeneities are concentrated at the central area (Shibeccha) in the eastern Hokkaido region, manifested locally as a large degree of scattering

Response of hydrothermal system to stress transients at Lassen Volcanic Center, California, inferred from seismic interferometry with ambient noise

International audienceTime-lapse monitoring of seismic velocity at volcanic areas can provide unique insight into the property of hydrothermal and magmatic fluids and their temporal variability. We established a quasi real-time velocity monitoring system by using seismic interferometry with ambient noise to explore the temporal evolution of velocity in the Lassen Volcanic Center, Northern California. Our monitoring system finds temporal variability of seismic velocity in response to stress changes imparted by an earthquake and by seasonal environmental changes. Dynamic stress changes from a magnitude 5.7 local earthquake induced a 0.1 % velocity reduction at a depth of about 1 km. The seismic velocity susceptibility defined as ratio of seismic velocity change to dynamic stress change is estimated to be about 0.006 MPa-1, which suggests the Lassen hydrothermal system is marked by high-pressurized hydrothermal fluid. By combining geodetic measurements, our observation shows that the long-term seismic velocity fluctuation closely tracks snow-induced vertical deformation without time delay, which is most consistent with an hydrological load model (either elastic or poroelastic response) in which surface loading drives hydrothermal fluid diffusion that leads to an increase of opening of cracks and subsequently reductions of seismic velocity. We infer that heated-hydrothermal fluid in a vapor-dominated zone at a depth of 2-4 km range is responsible for the long-term variation in seismic velocity[Figure not available: see fulltext.

Monitoring reservoir response to earthquakes and fluid extraction, Salton Sea geothermal field, California.

Continuous monitoring of in situ reservoir responses to stress transients provides insights into the evolution of geothermal reservoirs. By exploiting the stress dependence of seismic velocity changes, we investigate the temporal evolution of the reservoir stress state of the Salton Sea geothermal field (SSGF), California. We find that the SSGF experienced a number of sudden velocity reductions (~0.035 to 0.25%) that are most likely caused by openings of fractures due to dynamic stress transients (as small as 0.08 MPa and up to 0.45 MPa) from local and regional earthquakes. Depths of velocity changes are estimated to be about 0.5 to 1.5 km, similar to the depths of the injection and production wells. We derive an empirical in situ stress sensitivity of seismic velocity changes by relating velocity changes to dynamic stresses. We also observe systematic velocity reductions (0.04 to 0.05%) during earthquake swarms in mid-November 2009 and late-December 2010. On the basis of volumetric static and dynamic stress changes, the expected velocity reductions from the largest earthquakes with magnitude ranging from 3 to 4 in these swarms are less than 0.02%, which suggests that these earthquakes are likely not responsible for the velocity changes observed during the swarms. Instead, we argue that velocity reductions may have been induced by poroelastic opening of fractures due to aseismic deformation. We also observe a long-term velocity increase (~0.04%/year) that is most likely due to poroelastic contraction caused by the geothermal production. Our observations demonstrate that seismic interferometry provides insights into in situ reservoir response to stress changes

Seismic velocity variations associated with the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi

Abstract The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea (Hawai‘i) marked a dramatic change in the volcano’s 35-year-long rift zone eruption. The collapse of the middle East Rift Zone vent Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was followed by one of the volcano’s most voluminous eruptions in 500 years. Over the course of this 3-month eruption, the draining of summit-stored magma led to near-daily collapses of a portion of the caldera and ultimately up to 500 m of summit subsidence. While deformation data indicated that the summit and middle East Rift Zone were inflating for the previous several years, why Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō collapsed and what initiated down-rift dike propagation remains unclear. Using ambient noise seismic interferometry, we show that a M l 5.3 decollement earthquake beneath Kīlauea’s south flank in June 2017 induced a coseismic decrease of up to 0.30% in seismic velocity throughout the volcano. This velocity decrease may have been caused by dynamic stress–induced shallow crustal fracture, i.e. weakening to dilatant crack growth, and was greatest near Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Additionally, we verify a pre-eruptive increase in seismic velocity, consistent with increasing pressurization in the volcano’s shallow summit magma reservoir. This velocity increase occurred coincident with the first in a series of lower-crustal earthquake swarms, 6 days before a 2-month period of rapid summit and middle East Rift Zone inflation. The increase in up-rift magma-static pressure, combined with the pre-existing weakness from the June 2017 earthquake, may have facilitated down-rift dike propagation and the devastating 2018 eruption.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Kinematics of the 2015 San Ramon, California earthquake swarm: Implications for fault zone structure and driving mechanisms

Earthquake swarms represent a sudden increase in seismicity that may indicate a heterogeneous fault-zone, the involvement of crustal fluids and/or slow fault slip. Swarms sometimes precede major earthquake ruptures. An earthquake swarm occurred in October 2015 near San Ramon, California in an extensional right step-over region between the northern Calaveras Fault and the Concord–Mt. Diablo fault zone, which has hosted ten major swarms since 1970. The 2015 San Ramon swarm is examined here from 11 October through 18 November using template matching analysis. The relocated seismicity catalog contains ∼4000 events with magnitudes between −0.