Stress Chatter via Fluid Flow and Fault Slip in a Hydraulic Fracturing‐Induced Earthquake Sequence in the Montney Formation, British Columbia

Castro, Andres; Roth, Marco P.; Verdecchia, Alessandro; Onwuemeka, John; Liu, Yajing; Harrington, R. M.; Zhang, Y.; Kao, Honn

doi:10.1029/2020gl087254

Cited by 46 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Alternatively, event‐event interaction has been suggested as a potential mechanism for ongoing seismicity after HF completion (Schoenball et al, 2012). We use the Coulomb modeling (Toda et al, 2011), which is a diagnostic tool for earthquake interactions (e.g., Peña Castro et al, 2020; Sumy et al, 2014), to determine whether the coseismic slip of ML4 is partly responsible for the occurrence of aftershocks (see Text S4). Our results suggest that the aftershock distribution appears unfavorable to the Coulomb stress transfer model (Figure S8).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequential Fault Reactivation and Secondary Triggering in the March 2019 Red Deer Induced Earthquake Swarm

Wang

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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Using data from nodal geophones and broadband seismometers, this study investigates the seismicity near Red Deer, Alberta, a region with increasing cases of hydraulic fracturing (HF)-induced earthquakes. A cluster of 417 events was detected, and their spatial distribution and focal mechanisms reveal a NE trending rupture area with two strike-slip fault planes. Reactivation of preexisting faults by pore pressure diffusion is likely responsible for the occurrence of the earthquake sequence following the M L 4.18 mainshock. The temporal sequence of reactivated fault orientations suggests apparent changes in the local stress field following the mainshock, which is also responsible for a remotely triggered cluster observed 1 month after the mainshock. This secondary triggering process enhances our understanding of the trailing effect of HF-induced seismicity. Plain Language Summary Since 2018, the Red Deer region in Alberta, Canada, has experienced an increasing number of earthquakes, most of which are associated with nearby hydraulic fracturing operations. In this study, we analyze data from a dense array of seismic sensors and regional seismometers to detect and locate events surrounding a hydraulic fracturing site near Red Deer from 4 March to 10 April 2019. The spatial distribution of the earthquakes defines a complex fault system that was activated at two different times. The results in this study signify stress changes in the shallow crust in connection with the 4.18 magnitude earthquake on 4 March 2019. Modifications to the regional stress regime are relatively long-lived, as suggested by the continued occurrences of smaller earthquakes 1 month after the mainshock.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequential Fault Reactivation and Secondary Triggering in the March 2019 Red Deer Induced Earthquake Swarm

Wang

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…Verdon et al, 2017). This impact can be understood by comparing the report of the Montney Septimus sequence made by Babaie Mahani et al (2019), which did not identify any precursory events, and the catalogues produced by re-analysis of the data by Peña-Castro et al (2020) and Roth et al (2020).…”

Section: United Statesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…For the Montney, we use the cases described by Kao et al (2018) for the sequences in August 2014 and in July 2016, with maximum magnitudes of M 4.5 and M 3.9, respectively. To these, we add the HF-IS sequence from August 2015 described by Babaie Mahani et al 2017, and the sequence near to Septimus described by Peña-Castro et al (2020). We note that the largest event in this sequence is described as M 3.9 in the Composite Alberta Seismicity Catalog (Fereidoni and Cui, 2015), whereas Peña-Castro et al (2020) assigned a moment magnitude of M 4.2.…”

Section: Western Canadian Sedimentary Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two cases of HF-IS show evidence of compressional stress conditions (S hmin < S Hmax < S V ): the Montney shale (e.g. Peña-Castro et al, 2020) and the Sichuan Basin (e.g. Jia et al, 2020).…”

Section: Influence Of Stress Conditions On the Evolution Of Hf-is Seqmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further cases of hydraulic fracturing induced seismicity in the Montney play have been recorded by Babaie Mahani et al (2017) andBabaie Mahani et al (2019); in both cases, the largest reported magnitudes were M 4.6. Roth et al (2020) and Peña-Castro et al (2020) have provided a detailed analysis of events from the 2018 Septimus sequence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green, yellow, red, or out of the blue? An assessment of Traffic Light Schemes to mitigate the impact of hydraulic fracturing-induced seismicity

Verdon

Bommer

2020

J Seismol

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Mitigating hydraulic fracturing-induced seismicity (HF-IS) poses a challenge for shale gas companies and regulators alike. The use of Traffic Light Schemes (TLSs) is the most common way by which the hazards associated with HF-IS are mitigated. In this study, we discuss the implicit risk mitigation objectives of TLSs and explain the advantages of magnitude as the fundamental parameter to characterise induced seismic hazard. We go on to investigate some of the key assumptions on which TLSs are based, namely that magnitudes evolve relatively gradually from green to yellow to red thresholds (as opposed to larger events occurring “out-of-the-blue”), and that trailing event magnitudes do not increase substantially after injection stops. We compile HF-IS datasets from around the world, including the USA, Canada, the UK, and China, and track the temporal evolution of magnitudes in order to evaluate the extent to which magnitude jumps (i.e. sharp increases in magnitude from preceding events within a sequence) and trailing events occur. We find in the majority of cases magnitude jumps are less than 2 units. One quarter of cases experienced a post-injection magnitude increase, with the largest being 1.6. Trailing event increases generally occurred soon after injection, with most cases showing no increase in magnitude more than a few days after then end of injection. Hence, the effective operation of TLSs may require red-light thresholds to be set as much as two magnitude units below the threshold that the scheme is intended to avoid.

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Complex 3D Migration and Delayed Triggering of Hydraulic Fracturing-Induced Seismicity

Kao

Wang

Gao

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Stress Chatter via Fluid Flow and Fault Slip in a Hydraulic Fracturing‐Induced Earthquake Sequence in the Montney Formation, British Columbia

Cited by 46 publications

References 62 publications

Sequential Fault Reactivation and Secondary Triggering in the March 2019 Red Deer Induced Earthquake Swarm

Sequential Fault Reactivation and Secondary Triggering in the March 2019 Red Deer Induced Earthquake Swarm

Green, yellow, red, or out of the blue? An assessment of Traffic Light Schemes to mitigate the impact of hydraulic fracturing-induced seismicity

Complex 3D Migration and Delayed Triggering of Hydraulic Fracturing-Induced Seismicity

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