S U M M A R YSome of the most interesting questions in geosciences are whether results from laboratory experiments can be applied to processes in the earth crust and whether in situ studies with high spatio-temporal resolution can bridge the gap between laboratory work and seismology. In this study, acoustic emission (AE) activity caused by stress changes due to the backfilling of a cavity in an abandoned salt mine is studied to answer questions regarding (1) the dependence of AE event rates, event distribution and b-value on the stress state, (2) the stress memory effect of rock (Kaiser effect), (3) the possibility to detect significant changes in the system like the initiation of macrocracks and (4) the possibility to estimate future activity from previous AE records. The large number of events studied (>3 × 10 5 ) allows a spatial resolution of the order of 1 m and a temporal one on the order of 1 hr. Stress changes are created due to the thermal expansion and contraction of the rock mass in response to the temperature changes caused by the backfilling. A roughly 20 × 50 × 50 m section of the mining complex just above the backfilled cavity is well covered by a network of 24 piezo-electric receivers and poses an optimal volume for the study. Results of a 2-D finite element thermoelastic stress model are in agreement with the spatio-temporal AE event distribution. In addition to the initial upward migration of the AE event front, which correlates with the calculated stress field, the rock salt exhibits a pronounced Kaiser effect for the first few thermal loading cycles throughout the whole study region. The deviation from the Kaiser effect during later loading cycles seems to be caused by the initiation of a planar macroscopic crack, which is subsequently reactivated. AE activity tends to concentrate along this macrocrack. Calculated b-values decrease before and increase after the supposed initiation of the macrocrack supporting this explanation. In intact rock volumes not subjected to macrocracking a linear relation between the maximum event rate and the calculated absolute Coulomb stress increase is observed. This indicates that future maximum AE event rates can be estimated from expected loading. AE activity during stress loading cycles is most prominent in regions with Coulomb stress maxima indicating possible shear cracking that has the potential to create macrocracks. Strong bursts of AE activity observed during thermal unloading phases are concentrated in regions for which the minimum principal stress becomes tensile. These regions exhibit significantly higher b-values than those active during thermal loading. We interpret these weak events with tensile microcracking.

Abstract.A seismic hazard map proposed as part of a new building code for Romania is presented here on basis of the recommendations in EUROCODE 8.Seismic source zones within an area of about 200 km around Romania were constructed considering seismicity, neotectonics and geological development. The probabilistic seismic hazard assessment in terms of intensities is performed following Cornell (1968) with the program EQRISK (see Mc Guire, 1976), modified by us for use of intensities.To cope with the irregular isoseismals of the Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes a factor is introduced to the attenuation law (Kövesligethy, 1907). Using detailed macroseismic maps of three earthquakes is calculated by fitting the attenuation law to observed intensities, i.e. to local ground conditions. Strong local variation of is avoided by a gridding of 0.5 • in longitude and 0.25 • in latitude. The contribution of the Vrancea intermediate depth zone to the seismic hazard at each grid point is computed with the corresponding representative . A seismogenic depth of 120 km is assumed.The final seismic hazard is the combination of both contributions, of zones with crustal earthquakes and of the Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes zone. Calculations are done for a recurrence period of 95, 475 and 10 000 years. All maps show the dominating effects of the intermediate depth earthquakes in the Vrancea zone, also for the capital Bucharest.

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Reliable estimations of magnitude of completeness (M c ) are essential for a correct interpretation of seismic catalogues. The spatial distribution of M c may be strongly variable and difficult to assess in mining environments, owing to the presence of galleries, cavities, fractured regions, porous media and different mineralogical bodies, as well as in consequence of inhomogeneous spatial distribution of the seismicity. We apply a 3-D modification of the probabilistic magnitude of completeness (PMC) method, which relies on the analysis of network detection capabilities. In our approach, the probability to detect an event depends on its magnitude, source-receiver Euclidian distance and source-receiver direction. The suggested method is proposed for study of the spatial distribution of the magnitude of completeness in a mining environment and here is applied to a 2-months acoustic emission (AE) data set recorded at the Morsleben salt mine, Germany. The dense seismic network and the large data set, which includes more than one million events, enable a detailed testing of the method. This method is proposed specifically for strongly heterogeneous media. Besides, it can also be used for specific network installations, with sensors with a sensitivity, dependent on the direction of the incoming wave (e.g. some piezoelectric sensors). In absence of strong heterogeneities, the standards PMC approach should be used. We show that the PMC estimations in mines strongly depend on the source-receiver direction, and cannot be correctly accounted using a standard PMC approach. However, results can be improved, when adopting the proposed 3-D modification of the PMC method. Our analysis of one central horizontal and vertical section yields a magnitude of completeness of about M c ≈ 1 (AE magnitude) at the centre of the network, which increases up to M c ≈ 4 at further distances outside the network; the best detection performance is estimated for a NNE-SSE elongated region, which corresponds to the strike direction of the low-attenuating salt body. Our approach provides us with small-scale details about the capability of sensors to detect an earthquake, which can be linked to the presence of heterogeneities in specific directions. Reduced detection performance in presence of strong structural heterogeneities (cavities) is confirmed by synthetic waveform modelling in heterogeneous media.

Abstract.A seismic hazard map proposed as part of a new building code for Bulgaria is presented here on basis of the recommendations in EUROCODE 8.Seismic source zones within an area of about 200 km around Bulgaria were constructed considering seismicity, neotectonic and geological development. The most time consuming work was to establish a homogeneous earthquake catalogue out of different catalogues.The probabilistic seismic hazard assessment in terms of intensities is performed following Cornell (1968) with the program EQRISK (see McGuire, 1976), modified by us for use of intensities. To cope with the irregular isoseismals of the Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes a special attenuation factor is introduced (Ardeleanu et al., 2005), using detailed macroseismic maps of three major earthquakes.The final seismic hazard is the combination of both contributions, of zones with crustal earthquakes and of the Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes zone. Calculations are done for recurrence periods of 95, 475 and 10 000 years.