A comprehensive earthquake catalogue for the Fort St. John-Dawson Creek region, British Columbia, 2017-2018

Visser, Ryan; Kao, Honn; Smith, B; Goerzen, C; Kontou, B; Dokht, Ramin M. H.; Hutchinson, J; Tan, Felisa; Mahani, Alireza Babaie

doi:10.4095/326015

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A 1D velocity model was used for location analysis, specifically calibrated for the KSMMA from compressional and shear sonic logs, formation tops and ground truth locations of previous seismicity (available directly from the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission). Events were then re-located using HypoDD, a double-difference algorithm, whereby the residual between the observed and calculated travel-time difference (or double-difference) between two earthquakes observed on a single station are related to differences in their relative hypocentre locations and origin times (Waldhauser and Ellsworth, 2000). To calculate magnitudes we use a form of the Richter (1935) magnitude formula that has been modified to better reflect local attenuation characteristics within the KSMMA (Babaie-Mahani and Kao, 2020).…”

Section: Covid-19 and The Reduction Of Noise Globallymentioning

confidence: 99%

Unprecedented quiescence in resource development area allows detection of long-lived latent seismicity

Salvage

Eaton

2021

Solid Earth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Recent seismicity in Alberta and north-east British Columbia has been attributed to ongoing oil and gas development in the area, due to its temporal and spatial correlation. Prior to such development, the area was seismically quiescent. Here, we show evidence that latent seismicity may occur in areas where previous operations have occurred, even during a shutdown in operations. The global COVID-19 pandemic furnished the unique opportunity to study seismicity during a long period of anthropogenic quiescence. Within the Kiskatinaw area of British Columbia, 389 events were detected from April to August 2020, which encompasses a period with very little hydraulic fracturing operations. This reduction in operations was the result of a government-imposed lockdown severely restricting the movement of people as well as a downturn in the economic market causing industry stock prices to collapse. Except for a reduction in the seismicity rate and a lack of temporal clustering that is often characteristic of hydraulic fracturing induced sequences, the general characteristics of the observed seismicity were similar to the preceding time period of active operations. During the period of relative quiescence, event magnitudes were observed between ML −0.7 and ML 1.2, which is consistent with previous event magnitudes in the area. Hypocentres occurred in a corridor orientated NW–SE, just as seismicity had done in previous years, and were located at depths associated with the target Montney formation or shallower (<2.5 km). A maximum of 21 % of the detected events during lockdown may be attributable to natural seismicity, with a further 8 % potentially attributed to dynamic triggering of seismicity from teleseismic events and 6 % related to ongoing saltwater disposal and a single operational well pad. However, this leaves ∼65 % of the seismicity detected during lockdown being unattributable to primary activation mechanisms. This seismicity is unlikely to be the result of direct pore pressure increases (as very little direct injection of fluids was occurring at the time) and we see no patterns of temporal or spatial migration in the seismicity as would be expected from direct pore pressure increases. Instead, we suggest that this latent seismicity may be generated by aseismic slip as fluids (resulting from previous hydraulic fracturing injection) become trapped within permeable formations at depth, keeping pore pressures in the area elevated and consequently allowing the generation of seismicity. Alternatively, this seismicity may be the result of fault and fracture weakening in response to previous fluid injection. This is the first time that this latent seismicity has been observed in this area of British Columbia and, as such, this may now represent the new normal background seismicity rate within the Kiskatinaw area.

show abstract

Section: Covid-19 and The Reduction Of Noise Globallymentioning

confidence: 99%

Unprecedented quiescence in resource development area allows detection of long-lived latent seismicity

Salvage

Eaton

2021

Solid Earth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The seismicity data used for this study (Figure 1a) are compiled from earthquake catalogs produced by Natural Resources Canada (Huang et al, 2020;Visser et al, 2017Visser et al, , 2020, Alberta Energy Regulator (https://ags-aer.maps.arcgis.com) and the Composite Alberta Seismicity Catalogue (CASC; Cui 10.1029/2020GL089651 et al, 2015). In cases of duplicate listings (nearby events whose origin times differ by <5 s), the earliest event occurrence time was used.…”

Section: Data Compilation and Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Machine Learning‐Based Analysis of Geological Susceptibility to Induced Seismicity in the Montney Formation, Canada

Wozniakowska

Eaton

2020

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We analyze data from 6,466 multistage horizontal hydraulic fracturing wells drilled into the Montney Formation over a large region in western Canada to evaluate the impact of geological, geomechanical, and tectonic characteristics on the distribution of hydraulic fracturing-induced seismicity. Logistic regression was used to obtain a machine learning estimate of the seismogenic activation potential of each well. Our results fit the observed spatial variability, including an enigmatic change in seismicity at 120°W that does not correlate with any change in industrial activity. Feature importance analysis provides insight into data types that have the greatest impact on the results. Based on current data, seismogenic activation potential is most strongly influenced by depth of injection and distance of the well to the Cordilleran thrust belt. Plain Language Summary A supervised machine learning model is applied within a zone of oil and gas development in western Canada to determine areas where hydraulic fracturing operations are more likely to induce earthquake activity. Geological characteristics are investigated to determine factors that exert the greatest influence on earthquake triggering during or within 3 months after hydraulic fracturing. Our results indicate that an enigmatic change in seismicity patterns at 120°W arises from a combination of parameters, including distance to the northern Canadian Rockies. These inferences may be useful for a general understanding of localization of induced seismicity.

show abstract

“…Analysis of data for the 2000-2012 period was limited to only the "felt" events of M ≥ 3.0. Earthquakes from the NEBC earthquake catalogues compiled by Visser et al (2017Visser et al ( , 2020 were extracted and used for portions of this report. These catalogues combine private industry and university seismographic data with the NRCAN data and report a significantly greater number of small magnitude earthquakes than the NRCAN catalogue.…”

Section: Data and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic Fracturing, Cumulative Development and Earthquakes in the Peace River Region of British Columbia, Canada

Chapman¹

2021

GEP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Unconventional petroleum development involving large volume fluid injection into horizontal well bores, referred to as hydraulic fracturing (HF, or fracking), began in the Montney Trend of northeast British Columbia, Canada, in 2005, quickly initiating earthquakes. Earthquake frequency increased substantially in the Montney by 2008, in relation to the number of wells fracked and the volume of injected frack water. A spatiotemporal filter was used to associate earthquakes with HF wells. A total of 439 earthquakes (M 1.0 -4.6 (NRCAN catalogue) during 2013-2019 have close association with HF activity, of which 77% are associated with three operators. Fifteen percent of HF wells in the Montney are associated with these earthquakes, while 1.7% of HF wells are associated with M ≥ 3.0 earthquakes. There are strong linear relationships between the maximum earthquake magnitude each year and the annual volume of injected frack fluid. M ≥ 3.0 earthquakes are associated with large cumulative frack water volumes for antecedent time periods of 1 -3 years, often with fluid injection by multiple operators. Eighty-seven percent of the Montney M ≥ 3.0 earthquakes have associated HF triggering events, but a few are sufficiently distant to be ambiguous. Distances from the induced earthquake epicentres indicate a variety of causal mechanisms are involved. It is concluded that ~60% -70% of M ≥ 3.0 earthquakes are induced by hydraulic fracturing. HF-induced earthquakes can be considered in part related to the cumulative development density from multiple proximal operators and cumulative antecedent fluid injection over periods ranging from a few months to a few years. It is probable that induced earthquakes of M > 5 will occur in the future. There are significant public safety and infrastructure risks associated with future HF-induced earthquakes in the Peace River area. To carry out HF operations effectively and safely, potentially destructive earthquakes must be avoided or mitigated. The Traffic Light Protocol mitigation How to cite this paper: Chapman, A. R.

show abstract

A comprehensive earthquake catalogue for the Fort St. John-Dawson Creek region, British Columbia, 2017-2018

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Unprecedented quiescence in resource development area allows detection of long-lived latent seismicity

Unprecedented quiescence in resource development area allows detection of long-lived latent seismicity

Machine Learning‐Based Analysis of Geological Susceptibility to Induced Seismicity in the Montney Formation, Canada

Hydraulic Fracturing, Cumulative Development and Earthquakes in the Peace River Region of British Columbia, Canada

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About