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[1] We estimate stress drops and radiated seismic energies of 20 microearthquakes (0.0 < M W < 1.3) in a South African gold mine to investigate their rupture characteristics and scaling relationships to large earthquakes. We analyze seismograms of borehole accelerometers recorded with high sampling rate (15 kHz) within 200 m of the hypocenters at the depth of 2650 m. The waveform data have very high signal-to-noise ratio and no significant later phases are observed at all stations. Corner frequencies and quality factors of the anelastic attenuation Q are estimated from spectra of velocity seismograms by assuming the omega squared model of Boatwright (1978). We also investigate moment tensors for double couple solutions and volumetric components from the waveform inversion. Static stress drops of the 20 earthquakes calculated from the model of Madariaga (1976) are from 3.2 to 88 MPa and scaled energies (= E R /M o ; the ratio of the radiated energy E R to the seismic moment M o ) are from 4.2 Â 10 À6 to 1.1 Â 10 À4 . We find that both the static stress drops and the scaled energies of the analyzed earthquakes are comparable to those values of larger earthquakes. Our results indicate that the dynamic rupture processes of these microearthquakes are similar to those of larger earthquakes.

Microfractures occurring in a rock sample that are called acoustic emission (AE) events show some similar features to earthquakes. However, it remains to be shown whether or not AE equate to ultramicroearthquakes. In this study, we show the existence of magnitude À7 level earthquakes based on seismological analyses of AE source parameters. Advances in multichannel, broadband, high-speed continuous recording of AE under seismogenic pressure conditions has facilitated increasingly robust measurement. Source parameters of AE show that AE events satisfy the same scaling relationship as natural earthquakes in which seismic moment is inversely proportional to the cube of corner frequency. This result suggests that both millimeter scale fractures and natural earthquakes of kilometer scale ruptures are highly similar as physical processes. Hence, AE events can be interpreted as ultramicroearthquakes having a magnitude of about À7. These results demonstrate that laboratory observation is an effective approach in studying natural earthquake generation process.

Determination of the frictional properties of rocks is crucial for an understanding of earthquake mechanics, because most earthquakes are caused by frictional sliding along faults. Prior studies using rotary shear apparatus revealed a marked decrease in frictional strength, which can cause a large stress drop and strong shaking, with increasing slip rate and increasing work rate. (The mechanical work rate per unit area equals the product of the shear stress and the slip rate.) However, those important findings were obtained in experiments using rock specimens with dimensions of only several centimetres, which are much smaller than the dimensions of a natural fault (of the order of 1,000 metres). Here we use a large-scale biaxial friction apparatus with metre-sized rock specimens to investigate scale-dependent rock friction. The experiments show that rock friction in metre-sized rock specimens starts to decrease at a work rate that is one order of magnitude smaller than that in centimetre-sized rock specimens. Mechanical, visual and material observations suggest that slip-evolved stress heterogeneity on the fault accounts for the difference. On the basis of these observations, we propose that stress-concentrated areas exist in which frictional slip produces more wear materials (gouge) than in areas outside, resulting in further stress concentrations at these areas. Shear stress on the fault is primarily sustained by stress-concentrated areas that undergo a high work rate, so those areas should weaken rapidly and cause the macroscopic frictional strength to decrease abruptly. To verify this idea, we conducted numerical simulations assuming that local friction follows the frictional properties observed on centimetre-sized rock specimens. The simulations reproduced the macroscopic frictional properties observed on the metre-sized rock specimens. Given that localized stress concentrations commonly occur naturally, our results suggest that a natural fault may lose its strength faster than would be expected from the properties estimated from centimetre-sized rock samples.