Changes in groundwater levels or pressures associated with the 2004 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra (M9.0)

Abstract

Associated with the 2004 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra, changes in groundwater levels or pressures were observed at many observation stations in Japan which are more than 5000 km from the hypocenter. At 38 of the 45 observation stations, there were changes in groundwater levels or pressures. At the 10 observation stations in which the Ishii-type borehole strain instruments were established, changes in crustal strains were also observed. A major part of the changes in crustal strains and groundwater levels or pressures were dynamic oscillations due to a seismic wave. At some stations, coseismic or postseismic rises or drops were also observed. At five stations where both crustal stain and groundwater levels or pressures were observed, postseismic changes in groundwater levels or pressures were consistent with coseismic static steps in crustal strains. At the other five stations, postseismic changes in groundwater levels or pressures did not agree with the coseismic static steps. At two stations of these five stations, it is anticipated that the pore water pressure change in each aquifer locally occurred independently of the change in crustal strain. At another station, postseismic changes in groundwater level possessed the same characteristics as a model removing the temporary deposition. At the last two stations, the causes of the changes are unknown.

Groundwater level changes induced by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in China mainland

“…It has been considered that earthquake-induced oscillations in groundwater levels are mainly caused by transient oscillations due to crustal poroelastic deformation in an aquifer during the passage of seismic waves (Rexin et al 1962;Kitagawa et al 2006). The amplitude of the water level oscillations is enhanced at particular frequencies, depending upon the characteristics of the well-aquifer systems (Cooper et al 1965;Liu et al 1989;Kunugi et al 2000;Kitagawa et al 2011).…”

Water-table and discharge changes associated with the 2016–2017 seismic sequence in central Italy: hydrogeological data and a conceptual model for fractured carbonate aquifers

“…Torbidone spring (S5), whose ratio to the pre-event discharge would be infinite (as the spring was dry prior to the earthquake) is marked by an asterisk at water-level changes affecting, in a more permanent way, groundwater flow, is also well described in Yan et al (2014). Whereas the mechanism for explaining the first type of effects is substantially accepted as being transient oscillations due to crustal dynamic poro-elastic deformation in an aquifer during the passage of seismic waves (Rexin et al 1962;Kitagawa et al 2006;Yan et al 2014), the cause of permanent offsets, corresponding to sustained changes, is still debated.…”

Characterising Bedrock Aquifer Systems in Korea Using Paired Water-Level Monitoring Data

“…Much research using data obtained from groundwater monitoring has been reported. Examples include groundwater drought evaluation [4][5][6][7], studies of the relationship between climate change and groundwater [8,9], groundwater quality variables [10,11], seawater intrusion [12], and earthquake observation through groundwater analysis [13][14][15][16][17]. When interpreting groundwater monitoring data, fundamental information regarding the hydrogeological characteristics, the groundwater flow system, its fluctuations, and the connectivity of aquifers must be obtained and understood.…”