The main goal of this thesis is to analyze the statistical properties of seismic catalogues of natural and induced seismicity, identify similarities and differences. We compare statistical temporal and magnitude information contained in different types of earthquake catalogues. Six seismostatistical criteria used for identification of natural swarms and mainshock- aftershock earthquake sequences are applied to 10 different catalogues of natural and induced seismicity. We did not find a method to reliably distinguish between natural and induced seismicity based only on temporal and magnitude information contained in catalogues. We show that induced seismicity catalogues are similar to natural earthquake swarms. We report how the set of 6 criteria presented here can be used for distinguishing between mainshock-aftershock sequences and swarm seismicity. We also show that none of the tested criteria can be used independently for distinguishing between different types of seismicity.

The phenomenon of induced seismicity is caused by anthropogenic activity such as: underground and opencast mining, extraction of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons, construction of water reservoirs and production of geothermal energy. In recent years, interest in induced seismicity increased due to the fact that it causes increasingly stronger earthquakes, even above 4 on the Richter scale. Thus, it poses a threat to people, technical and urban infrastructure. This study analyzed the seismic event of M = 4.6, which occurred on the 15 September 2018 in the Rudna copper mine area in SW Poland. For this purpose, Sentinel 1 satellite data and DInSAR processing method were used to determine the ground movement values in the satellite line of sight. Based on the results for four image pairs, the area disturbed by the seismic event was determined. The maximum values of subsidence ranged from -65 mm to -75 mm depending on the analysed dataset and the area of deformation was determined at approx. 4 km sq. The results indicate the usefulness of the adopted method to determine ground deformation caused by induced seismicity in an underground mining area.

This Ph.D. dissertation focuses on a comprehensive study of seismic waveform similarity aiming at two themes: (1) reliable identification of repeating earthquakes (repeaters) and (2) investigation of the detailed source process of induced seismicity through the three-dimensional spatiotemporal evolution of mainly neighbouring earthquakes. Theme 1: Reliable identification of repeaters. Repeaters, occurring repeatedly on the same fault patch with nearly identical waveforms, are usually identified with the match-filtering (MF) method which essentially measures the degree of waveform similarity between an earthquake pair through the corresponding cross-correlation coefficient (CC). However, the performance of the MF method can be severely affected by the length of the cross‐correlation window, the frequency band of the applied digital filter, and the presence of a large‐amplitude wave train. To optimize the performance of MF, I first examine the effects of different operational parameters and determine generic rules for selecting the window length and the optimal frequency passband. To minimize the impact of a large‐amplitude wave train, I then develop a new method, named the match-filtering with multisegment cross-correlation (MFMC) method. By equally incorporating the contributions from various segments of the waveforms, the new method is much more effective in capturing the minor waveform discrepancy between an event pair due to location difference and hence is more reliable in detecting potential repeaters and discriminating non-repeaters with large inter-event separation. With both synthetic and borehole array waveform data, I further reveal that waveform similarity is controlled by not only the inter-event separation but also many other factors, including station azimuth, epicentral distance, velocity structure, etc. Therefore, in contrast to the traditional view, the results indicate that waveform similarity alone is insufficient to unambiguously identify true repeaters. For reliable repeater identification, we should rely on a physics-based approach considering both the overlapped source area and magnitude difference. Specifically, I define an event pair to be true repeaters if their inter-event separation is smaller than the rupture radius of the larger event and their magnitude difference is no more than 1. For the precise estimation of inter-event distance in cases of limited data, I develop the differential traveltime double-difference (DTDD) method which relies on the relative S-P differential traveltime. The findings of this study imply that previously identified repeaters and their interpretations/hypotheses potentially can be biased and hence may need a systematic reexamination. Theme 2: Investigation of the detailed source process of induced seismicity. Earthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing (HF), especially those with large magnitudes, are often observed to have occurred near/after well completion. The delayed triggering of induced seismicity with respect to injection commencement poses serious challenges for risk mitigation and hazard assessment. By performing waveform cross-correlation and hierarchical clustering analysis, I reveal a high-resolution three-dimensional source migration process with mainshock delayed triggering that is probably controlled by local hydrogeological conditions. The results suggest that poroelastic effects might contribute to induced seismicity but are likely insufficient to activate a non-critically stressed fault of sufficient size. My analysis shows that the rapid pore-pressure build-up from HF can be very localized and capable of producing large, felt earthquakes on non-critically stressed fault segments. I further infer that the number of critically stressed, large intraplate faults should be very limited, and that reactivation of such faults may require sufficient pore-pressure accumulation. The findings of this study may also explain why so few fluid injections are seismogenic. / Graduate

Dans le cadre d’un programme de recherche mené par le GISOS (Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique de Recherche sur l’Impact et la Sécurité des Ouvrages Souterrains), le site pilote de Cerville-Buissoncourt (Lorraine, France) a fait l’objet d’une importante instrumentation géophysique et géotechnique pour assurer la surveillance d’une cavité saline à 200 m de profondeur, depuis son état stationnaire jusqu’à l’effondrement des terrains du recouvrement. Les objectifs principaux de cette thèse consistaient à : 1) valider la technique de surveillance basée sur l’écoute microsismique dans un contexte salin, et 2) modéliser numériquement le comportement mécanique complexe du recouvrement, particulièrement l’initiation des microfissures et leur propagation. L’analyse de la sismicité induite enregistrée a permis de caractériser l’état initial de la cavité en terme d’activité microsismique. Deux types d’événements ont été identifiés : les événements isolés correspondant aux ruptures localisées, et les événements en rafale, d’une dizaine de secondes de durée. D’après les résultats de localisation d’hypocentres, la totalité de la sismicité enregistrée est générée au niveau de la cavité dans le gisement de sel, ou bien dans les faciès marneux qui composent le toit immédiat de la cavité actuelle. Les déclenchements en rafale seraient liés à des phénomènes de délitement puis de décrochement de blocs de marne, suivis des chutes de blocs dans la cavité remplie de saumure. Le travail de modélisation numérique a été focalisé sur la possibilité de rendre compte de l’endommagement dans les couches fragiles du recouvrement. Nous avons mis en oeuvre un modèle géomécanique hybride à l’échelle du site pilote qui intègre les différentes formations géologiques présentes dans le recouvrement, ainsi que l’initiation, la propagation et la coalescence des microfissures dans le banc raide, à l’aide des logiciels FLAC et PFC2D. La calibration du modèle discret PFC2D pour reproduire le comportement en traction du banc raide a été vérifiée numériquement à l’échelle du site pilote. Cette vérification a été basée sur la comparaison, en termes de la réponse élastique et d’apparition des ruptures dans le banc raide, entre l’approche hybride FLACPFC 2D et la modélisation purement continue avec FLAC. Le modèle hybride ainsi défini pourra être utilisé dans le cadre d’une retro-analyse une fois que les mesures in-situ, notamment les enregistrements microsismiques et les données de déformation, seront disponibles à Cerville-Buissoncourt / Within the framework of a research program carried out by the GISOS (Scientific Grouping of Research Interest on the Impact and Safety of Underground Works), the pilot site of Cerville-Buissoncourt (Lorraine, France) was the subject of a large geophysical and geotechnical instrumentation to ensure the monitoring of a salt cavity at 200 m depth, from its stationary state to the final overburden collapse. The main objectives of this work consisted on : 1) the validation of the microseismic monitoring technique in a salt mine environment, and 2) the numerical modelling of the mechanical behavior of the overburden, particularly the initiation and the propagation of microcracks. The analysis of the recorded induced seismicity allowed to characterize the initial state of the cavity in terms of microseismic activity. Two types of events were identified : isolated events corresponding to localized ruptures, and swarms of events, of tens of seconds of duration. According to hypocenter location results, the totality of the recorded seismicity is generated either in the cavity surroundings within the salt layer, or in the marly facies of the current cavity roof. Swarms would be related to delamination of clayley marls in the immediate roof, followed by rock debris falling in the brine filled cavity. The numerical modelling was focused on the possibility of accounting for the damage in the fragile layers of the overburden. We implemented a hybrid geomechanical model of the pilot site which integrates the various geological formations present in the overburden, as well as the initiation, the propagation and the coalescence of microcracks in the stiff layer, using FLAC and PFC2D softwares. The calibration of the discrete PFC2D model to reproduce the tensile behaviour of the stiff layer was numerically checked on the site scale. The validation was based on the comparison, in terms of the elastic response and the damage onset in the stiff layer, between the hybrid approach FLAC-PFC2D and the purely continuous modelling using FLAC. The hybrid model thus defined would be used for back-analysis studies once in-situ measurements, in particular microseismic recordings and deformation data, will be available at Cerville-Buissoncourt

Le développement et l'exploitation de réservoirs géothermiques profonds s'accompagnent généralement d'une sismicité induite - un effet secondaire indésirable. Cette recherche est axées sur l'utilisation de simulations numériques pour étudier la propagation des fractures hydrauliques et la réactivation de failles préexistantes lors de la stimulation hydraulique des réservoirs afin de mieux comprendre le comportement du réservoir fracturé et de réduire le risque potentiel de sismicité induite.La sismicité induite est d'abord étudiée du point de vue de l'utilisation de la loi de conservation de l'énergie afin d'expliquer le mécanisme de génération d'ondes élastiques à partir d'une rupture de roche. Ensuite, une approche approximative est proposée pour calculer les accélérations de pointe (PGA) induites par le glissement de faille. Les PGA calculés à la surface du sol servent à évaluer la perception humaine des ondes sismiques et le potentiel de dégradation des structures. / The development and the exploitation of deep geothermal reservoirs are usually accompanied with induced seismicity - an unwanted side effect. This research is focused on using numerical simulations to investigate the propagation of hydraulic fractures and the reactivation of pre-existing faults during the hydraulic stimulation of the reservoirs in an effort to better understand the fractured reservoir behavior and to reduce the potential risk of induced seismicity.The induced seismicity is studied first from the standpoint of using the law of energy conservation in order to explain the mechanism of generating elastic waves from rock failure. Then an approximate approach is proposed to calculate the peak ground accelerations (PGAs) that are induced by the fault slip. The computed PGAs on ground surface are used to assess the human perception of the seismic waves and the damage potential to structures.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-13T17:08:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlineGS_DISSERT.pdf: 3853241 bytes, checksum: 58a2024c558cc1fe962ac52b1b91989a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-05 / Hydraulic fracturing is an operation in which pressurised fluid is injected in the geological formation surrounding the producing well to create new permeable paths for hydrocarbons. The injection of such fluids in the reservoir induces seismic events. The measurement of this reservoir stimulation can be made by location these induced microseismic events. However, microseismic monitoring is an expensive operation because the acquisition and data interpretation system using in this monitoring rely on high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). In general, the sensors are deployed in a monitoring well near the treated well and can make a microseismic monitoring quite an expensive operation. In this dissertation we propose the application of a new method for recording and location of microseismic events called nanoseismic monitoring (Joswig, 2006). In this new method, a continuous recording is performed and the interpreter can separate events from noise using sonograms. This new method also allows the location of seismic sources even when P and S phases onsets are not clear like in situations of 0 dB SNR. The clear technical advantage of this new method is also economically advantageous since the sensors can potentially be installed on the surface rather than in observation well. In this dissertation field tests with controlled sources were made. In the first test small explosives using fire works at 28 m (slant distances) were detected yealding magnitudes between -2.4 ≤ ML ≤ -1.6.. In a second test, we monitored perforation shots in a producing oil field. In this second test, one perforation shot was located with slant distances of 861 m and magnitude 2.4 ML. Data from the tests allow us to say that the method has potential to be used in the oil industry to monitor hydrofracture / O fraturamento hidr?ulico consiste em injetar um fluido pressurizado na forma??o em volta do po?o produtor a fim de criar novos caminhos para o hidrocarboneto fluir. A inje??o de fluido em reservat?rio de hidrocarboneto durante o processo de fraturamento hidr?ulico induz eventos micross?smicos. Medir a efici?ncia dessa estimula??o do reservat?rio pode ser feita, de forma indireta, identificando os locais afetados atrav?s da localiza??o dos microssismos induzidos. Mas hoje, isso tem um custo elevado por que o sistema de aquisi??o e interpreta??o de dados no monitoramento s?smico s? funciona bem em ambientes onde a raz?o sinal-ru?do ? consideravelmente alta, implicando na necessidade de acoplar sensores em po?os de observa??o a uma mesma profundidade do fraturamento. Nesse trabalho, propomos a aplica??o de um novo m?todo de registro e localiza??o de microssismos, o m?todo nanoss?smico (Joswig, 2006). O m?todo consiste em um monitoramento cont?nuo no tempo, deixando o usu?rio distinguir ru?dos e eventos s?smicos atrav?s da an?lise do conte?do espectral do sinal. O programa de an?lise do m?todo, HypoLine, permite a localiza??o de eventos sem fases clara de onda P e S. Dessa forma, pode-se identificar e localizar eventos de raz?o sinal - ru?do de at? 0 dB. Essa ? a principal vantagem do m?todo. Sua aplica??o para detectar microssismos induzidos por inje??o de fluido pode trazer grande retorno financeiro, caso n?o se tenha mais a necessidade de acoplar sensores a uma mesma profundidade do fraturamento hidr?ulico. Neste trabalho, testes foram realizados, onde o tempo de origem do sinal e a localiza??o da fonte eram conhecidos, a fim de conhecer a potencialidade do m?todo para aplica??o futura em monitoramento de fraturamentos hidr?ulico. Em um primeiro teste, fontes s?smicas (simuladas com fogos de artif?cios) foram localizadas a 28 m do sensor e magnitude -2.4 ≤ ML ≤ -1.6. Em um segundo teste, um monitoramento de canhoneios em um po?o de petr?leo, fonte foi detectada e localizada a uma dist?ncia do sensor de 861m com magnitude de 2.4 ML. Dados obtidos nestes testes permite dizer que o m?todo tem potencial para ser usado em monitoramento de hidrofraturas pela ind?stria do petr?leo

La localisation de séismes induits ainsi que les mécanismes au foyer associés sont des outils fréquemment utilisés afin, entre autres, d’imager la structure d’un réservoir. Cette thèse présente une technique permettant de quantifier les erreurs associées à ces deux paramètres. Par cette méthode, incertitudes et imprécisions sont distinguées. La méthode a été appliquée aux sites de Soultz et de Rittershoffen pour étudier l’impact de plusieurs critères sur la localisation de la sismicité induite. Ainsi, il a été montré que l’utilisation de capteurs installés profondément dans des puits et qu’une bonne couverture sismique azimutale réduit sérieusement les incertitudes de localisation. Les incertitudes du modèle de vitesse, représentées par une distribution gaussienne des modèles avec un écart de 5% autour du modèle de référence, multiplient les incertitudes de localisation par un facteur 2 à 3. Des simplifications utilisées pour le calcul ou une mauvaise connaissance du milieu peuvent mener à des imprécisions de l’ordre de 10% spatialement non isotropes. Ainsi, les structures du sous-sol peuvent être déformées dans les interprétations. L’application d’un tir de calibration peut néanmoins corriger ce fait en grande partie. L’étude d’erreurs associées aux mécanismes au foyer ne semble cependant pas conduire aux mêmes conclusions. Le biais angulaire peut certes être augmenté par l’omission de la faille dans le modèle de vitesse, mais dans plusieurs cas il est le même que dans le cas idéal voire diminué. En outre, une meilleure couverture sismique améliorerait toujours le mécanisme au foyer obtenu. Ainsi, il n’est pas conseillé d’imager un réservoir en n’utilisant que la localisation de séismes, mais une combinaison de plusieurs paramètres sismiques pourrait s’avérer efficace. La méthode appliquée dans le cadre de cette thèse pourra servir pour d’autres sites à condition d’en avoir une bonne connaissance a priori. / Induced seismicity location and focal mechanisms are commonly used to image the sub-surface designin reservoirs among other tasks. In this Ph.D. the inaccuracies and uncertainties on earthquake location and focal mechanisms are quantified using a three-step method. The technique is applied to the geothermal sites of Soultz and Rittershoffen to investigate the effect of several criteria on thee arthquake location. A good azimuthal seismic coverage and the use of seismic down-hole sensors seriously decrease the location uncertainty. On the contrary, velocity model uncertainties, represented by a 5% Gaussian distribution of the velocity model around the reference model, will multiply location uncertainties by a factor of 2 to 3. An incorrect knowledge of the sub-surface or the simplifications performed before the earthquake location can lead to biases of 10% of the vertical distance separating the source and the stations with a non-isotropic spatial distribution. Hence the sub-surface design maybe distorted in the interpretations. To prevent from that fact, the calibration shot method was proved to be efficient. The study on focal mechanism errors seems to lead to different conclusions. Obviously, the angular bias may be increased by neglecting the fault in the velocity. But, it may also be the same as or even smaller than the bias calculated for the case simulating a perfect knowledge of the medium of propagation. Furthermore a better seismic coverage always leads to smaller angular biases. Hence,it is worth advising to use more than only earthquake location in order to image a reservoir. Other geothermal sites and reservoirs may benefit from the method developed here. / Die korrekte Lokalisierung von induzierter Seismizität und den dazugehörigen Herdflächenlösungensind sehr wichtige Parameter. So werden zum Beispiel die Verteilung der Erdbeben und die Orientierung ihrer Herdflächenlösungen dazu benutzt um in der Tiefe liegende Reservoirs zulokalisieren und abzubilden. In dieser Doktorarbeit wird eine Technik vorgeschlagen um diemethodisch bedingten Fehler zu quantifizieren. Mit dieser Methode werden die verschiedenen Fehlerquellen, die Unsicherheiten und die Fehler im Modell getrennt. Die Technik wird für die geothermischen Felder in Soultz und in Rittershoffen benutzt um den Einfluss verschiedener Parameter (Annahmen) auf die Lokalisierung der induzierten Seismizität zu bestimmen. Es wurde festgestellt, dass Bohrlochseismometer und eine gute azimutale Verteilung der seismischen Stationen die Unbestimmtheiten verkleinern. Die Geschwindigkeitsunbestimmheiten, die durch eine Gauss-Verteilung mit 5% Fehler dargestellt werden, vervielfachen die Lokalisierungsungenauigkeiten um einen Faktor 2 bis 3. Eine ungenaue Kenntnis des Untergrunds oder die verwendete vereinfachte Darstellung der Geschwindigkeitsverhältnisse im Untergrund (notwendig um die synthetischen Rechnungen durchführen zu können) führen zu anisotropen Abweichungen und Fehlern in der Herdtiefe von bis zu 10%. Diese können die Interpretationen des Untergrunds deutlich verfälschen. Ein “calibration shot” kann diese Fehler korrigieren. Leider können die Fehler für die Herdflächenlösungen nicht in derselben Weise korrigiert werden. Es erscheint daher als keine gute Idee, ein Reservoir nur über die Lokalisierung von Erdbeben zu bestimmen. Eine Kombination mehrerer seismischer Methoden scheint angezeigt. Die hier besprochene Methode kann als Grundlage dienen für die Erkundung anderer (geothermischer)

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