The Variation of b-Value of Earthquakes During COVID-19 Lockdowns: Case Studies from the Cascadia Subduction Zone and New Zealand

Avigyan Chatterjee, Arushi Saxena, Khurram Aslam, Aaron Van Alstine and Mohammad Shahid Zeb
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Avigyan Chatterjee: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
Arushi Saxena: ��Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Khurram Aslam: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
Aaron Van Alstine: ��The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
Mohammad Shahid Zeb: �Government College, Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), 2022, vol. 21, issue Supp01, 1-13

Abstract: During the COVID-19 outbreak that took place in early 2020, restrictions on human activities were imposed by government-mandated lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. In this study, we analyse the impact of reduced anthropogenic activities on the detection of seismic events. We hypothesise and show that with reduced background noise levels due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, low-magnitude earthquakes are more easily detectable. We investigate the magnitudes of earthquakes recorded at the seismometers before and after COVID-19 lockdowns for two regions — Cascadia Subduction Zone and New Zealand. Gutenberg–Richter law, which gives a relationship between the number of earthquakes and their magnitudes (b-value), was applied in these two areas. Our results point to an increase in detection of smaller-magnitude earthquakes, as observed by an increased b-value during the COVID-19 period compared to those obtained in the pre-COVID time periods. Previous studies have shown that changes in b-value of an area over a sustained period of time affect the short-time probabilistic risk assessment. The variability of b-value also gives useful insights into the prevailing stress state of the region, crustal heterogeneity, pore pressure and tectonic setting of the area.

Keywords: b-value; earthquake; seismicity; bootstrapping; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1142/S0219649222400019

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