Mechanism of reservoir-induced seismicity in the Xinfengjiang reservoir area, Guangdong, China

Jian Kuang, Shihua Qi (), Xiangyun Hu and Zhong Liu
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Jian Kuang: China University of Geosciences
Shihua Qi: China University of Geosciences
Xiangyun Hu: China University of Geosciences
Zhong Liu: Petroleum Engineering and Geophysics Co., Ltd, SINOPEC

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2022, vol. 111, issue 2, No 37, 2059-2076

Abstract: Abstract Continuous reservoir induced seismicity (RIS) has been observed in the Xinfengjiang reservoir (XFJR), Guangdong province, southeast China. However, due to the lack of systematic studies on the lithospheric structure, stress field analysis, and seismicity, the detailed mechanism of seismicity in the XFJR has not been resolved. To better understand the mechanism of RIS in the XFJR, two magnetotelluric profiles have been conducted to obtain the lithospheric structure. Using the geological evolution and structure, earthquake catalogs, water level changes, this study also investigated the stress field around the reservoir dam and the focal mechanism of RIS in the XFJR area. The results of this study fine reveal there is asthenospheric upwelling beneath the XFJR and jacks the block between the Heyuan normal fault and the Renzishi normal fault. The jacking force combined with the compressional stress from the north drift of the Philippine Sea plate has shaped the stress field, the frame of the geological structures, and earthquakes distribution in the XFJR. Combined with the above results, and investigated the earthquake catalogs and water level changes, this study suggests the occurrence of RIS in 1960–1980 is the response of the stress field to water load and its force disequilibrium distribution to different blocks after the impoundment. Water level changes and pore diffusion have been the inducement factor of seismicity since the impoundment and they dominated the occurrence of RIS after 1980. The continuous release of stress plays an important role in the occurrence of RIS after the impoundment.

Keywords: Xinfengjiang reservoir; Induced seismicity; Stress field; Water level changes; Lithospheric structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-021-05129-2

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