An Extremely Shallow M(w)4.1 Thrust Earthquake in the Eastern Sichuan Basin (China) Likely Triggered by Unloading During Infrastructure Construction

Qian, Yunyi1,2; Chen, Xiaofei1; Luo, Heng3; Wei, Shengji4,5; Wang, Teng6; Zhang, Zhenguo1; Luo, Xinyu2

2019-12-10

10.1029/2019GL085199

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS   影响因子和分区

0094-8276

1944-8007

Triggered or induced earthquakes have been widely reported as resulting from various human activities, yet seismicity triggered by small-scale infrastructure construction is rare. Here, we report on an investigation of an extremely shallow M(w)4.1 earthquake which occurred on 11 August 2016 in the Sichuan Basin (China), a region with historically low seismicity. Our seismic waveform analyses indicate an almost pure thrust focal mechanism at a centroid depth of similar to 1 km. Furthermore, 18 Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar interferograms, stacked to obtain subcentimeter accuracy, reveal up to 3 cm line-of-sight deformation which overlaps with an automotive testing site constructed in 2014. Removal of 10 m of a surface rock layer during the construction may have produced an unloading effect and resulted in up to 0.11 MPa Coulomb stress changes on a blind fault, larger than the 0.01 MPa threshold typically invoked in studies of tectonic earthquakes. However, the delayed triggering still requires further investigation.

SCI ; EI

英语

NI论文

第一 ; 通讯

Singapore MOE project[MOE2019-T2-1-182]

Geology

Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

WOS:000501670500001

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION

20195207899422

Induced Seismicity ; Synthetic aperture radar ; Unloading ; Waveform analysis

Seismology:484 ; Materials Handling Methods:691.2 ; Radar Systems and Equipment:716.2

GEOSCIENCES

Web of Science

1.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Earth & Space Sci, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Peoples R China
2.Univ Sci & Technol China, Sch Earth & Space Sci, Hefei, Anhui, Peoples R China
3.Wuhan Univ, State Key Lab Informat Engn Surveying Mapping & R, Wuhan, Hubei, Peoples R China
4.Nanyang Technol Univ, Earth Observ Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
5.Nanyang Technol Univ, Asian Sch Environm, Singapore, Singapore
6.Peking Univ, Sch Earth & Space Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China

Qian, Yunyi,Chen, Xiaofei,Luo, Heng,et al. An Extremely Shallow M(w)4.1 Thrust Earthquake in the Eastern Sichuan Basin (China) Likely Triggered by Unloading During Infrastructure Construction[J]. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,2019,46(23):13775-13784.

Qian, Yunyi.,Chen, Xiaofei.,Luo, Heng.,Wei, Shengji.,Wang, Teng.,...&Luo, Xinyu.(2019).An Extremely Shallow M(w)4.1 Thrust Earthquake in the Eastern Sichuan Basin (China) Likely Triggered by Unloading During Infrastructure Construction.GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,46(23),13775-13784.

Qian, Yunyi,et al."An Extremely Shallow M(w)4.1 Thrust Earthquake in the Eastern Sichuan Basin (China) Likely Triggered by Unloading During Infrastructure Construction".GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 46.23(2019):13775-13784.