Coal-Mining Seismicity and Ground-Shaking Hazard: A Case Study in the Trail Mountain Area, Emery County, Utah

Arabasz, Walter J.; Nava, Susan J.; McCarter, M. K.; Pankow, K. L.; Pechmann, James C.; Ake, Jon; McGarr, A.

doi:10.1785/0120040045

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The final hypocenters are consistent with what is known about the geology and mine plan and support the findings of the original study. MIS at the TMM locates on or near the actively mined longwall panel and closely follows the position of the longwall face, which can be observed in Arabasz et al (2002Arabasz et al ( , 2005 and more clearly in the Ⓔ electronic supplement.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…In the original study, the depths of the events were determined to be within 0:6 km of the mine level; however, due to the confidence intervals for depth associated with the solutions, the proportion of events that occurred in the roof or floor of the mine could not be determined (Arabasz et al, 2005). In contrast, the focal depths produced during this study are better constrained and indicate that the seismicity is occurring in the roof, which is consistent with gob formation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…The magnitudes for these events ranged from M c 0.0 to 2.2. The epicentral locations reported by Arabasz et al (2002Arabasz et al ( , 2005, hereafter referred to as the original study, are reasonably well constrained. The seismicity locates largely within the panel boundary and follows the position of the longwall face (see Arabasz et al, 2005;their fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…In addition to the roof caving, it is also observed that coal may burst off of pillars in the gate roads, or the floor of the mine may heave as a result of stress changes. These are all potential sources of MIS. In order to determine the seismic hazard posed to the Joe's Valley Dam from nearby mining, a seismic experiment was conducted over the Trail Mountain Mine (TMM), located in central Utah, from October 2000 to April 2001 Arabasz et al, 2005;Fletcher and McGarr, 2005;McGarr and Fletcher, 2005). The TMM used the longwall mining technique starting in October 1995.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The focal depths determined in the original study are poorly constrained; most cluster at the top of the velocity model. Only 321 events are interpreted to have well-constrained focal depths (Arabasz et al, 2005); and, even for these well-constrained hypocenters, it is impossible to resolve whether the seismicity was occurring at, above, or below mine level. The coal seam mined at the TMM is ∼650 m below the surface and is ∼2:5 m thick.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fine Details of Mining-Induced Seismicity at the Trail Mountain Coal Mine Using Modified Hypocentral Relocation Techniques

Boltz

Pankow

McCarter

2013

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

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Master event and double-difference techniques were used to relocate mining-induced seismicity (MIS) at the Trail Mountain Mine, a longwall coal mine in central Utah. Travel-time data were collected by Arabasz et al. (2002) using a surface seismic network with stations at elevations both above and below mine level (because of the topography) and a single in-mine station. Arabasz et al. (2002) only used surface stations above mine level to determine locations. Using this network geometry, they were only able to constrain focal depths for 321 of 1829 events. In contrast, we use all stations, creating a 3D network. Hypocentral locations are improved by implementing a master event methodology to reduce the effects of uncertainties in the velocity structure, though the resulting locations do not correspond with known structures or stratigraphy. The mismatch between the locations and geology is likely due to fracturing of the rock mass by the mining process, thereby decreasing the seismic velocity near mined-out regions. Assuming a 10% velocity decrease places the MIS in the roof of the mine. A double-difference procedure is used to mimic a timevarying velocity structure. The time-varying velocity structure results in locations that approximate the dip of the coal seam. By using all available stations and allowing for a time-varying velocity structure, we find the MIS is located immediately above the coal seam and closely follows the position of the coalface. The epicenters align with the roads along the longwall panel, where stress concentrations are expected during mining.Online Material: Animations of the progression of seismicity along the longwall panel.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Fine Details of Mining-Induced Seismicity at the Trail Mountain Coal Mine Using Modified Hypocentral Relocation Techniques

Boltz

Pankow

McCarter

2013

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

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Magnitude‐based discrimination of man‐made seismic events from naturally occurring earthquakes in Utah, USA

Koper

Pechmann

Burlacu

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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We investigate using the difference between local (ML) and coda/duration (MC) magnitude to discriminate man‐made seismic events from naturally occurring tectonic earthquakes in and around Utah. For 6846 well‐located earthquakes in the Utah region, we find that ML‐MC is on average 0.44 magnitude units smaller for mining‐induced seismicity (MIS) than for tectonic seismicity (TS). Our interpretation of this observation is that MIS occurs within near‐surface low‐velocity layers that act as a waveguide and preferentially increase coda duration relative to peak amplitude, while the vast majority of TS occurs beneath the near‐surface waveguide. A second data set of 3723 confirmed or probable explosions in the Utah region also has significantly lower ML‐MC values than TS, likely for the same reason as the MIS. These observations suggest that ML‐MC is useful as a depth indicator and could discriminate small explosions and mining‐induced earthquakes from deeper, naturally occurring earthquakes at local‐to‐regional distances.

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Potential triggers for large earthquakes in open‐pit mines: A case study from Kuzbass, Siberia

Kocharyan

Кишкина

et al. 2022

Deep Underground Science and Engineering

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The extraction and movement of rock during mining operations is considered a possible trigger for slip along the fault. In this study, possible anthropogenic causes were analyzed for triggering the earthquake with the local magnitude of M L = 6.1 (at a depth of 4 km just beneath the quarry), in the vicinity of the large coal open-pit mine in Russia. This event was the largest earthquake associated with a quarry (an open pit). A sufficiently deep occurrence of the source testified that seismic vibrations were produced in a dynamic slip along a preexisting and prestressed tectonic fault. Analytical calculations were conducted of increments of normal and shear stresses at fault planes with several dip angles at depths corresponding to the probable location of the hypocenter of the Bachat earthquake. As the results show, long-term rock excavations bring a prestressed thrust fault closer to the ultimate Coulomb strength, and stress variations at those depths may suffice to initiate a movement along the fault. By measuring seismic vibrations at different quarries and mines in Russia, the dynamic effect at the supposed depth of the source occurrence could be reliably estimated. As is shown, the ultimate anticipated dynamic deformations are noticeably lower than corresponding values produced by seismic waves of distant earthquakes in the case when the effects of dynamic triggering were observed. Accordingly, the seismic effect of explosions cannot trigger a large earthquake with deep source occurrence. Operations in open-pit mines can only bring forward the moment of an earthquake at a potentially seismogenic fault. At the same time, the numerical calculations reveal that a branching network of underground tunnels located at several horizons can noticeably reduce the effective shear modulus of the host rock. This effect can even provoke a dynamic movement at a previously aseismic fault.

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Coal-Mining Seismicity and Ground-Shaking Hazard: A Case Study in the Trail Mountain Area, Emery County, Utah

Cited by 28 publications

References 9 publications

Fine Details of Mining-Induced Seismicity at the Trail Mountain Coal Mine Using Modified Hypocentral Relocation Techniques

Fine Details of Mining-Induced Seismicity at the Trail Mountain Coal Mine Using Modified Hypocentral Relocation Techniques

Magnitude‐based discrimination of man‐made seismic events from naturally occurring earthquakes in Utah, USA

Potential triggers for large earthquakes in open‐pit mines: A case study from Kuzbass, Siberia

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