[1] Large, sustained well water level changes (>10 cm) in response to distant (more than hundreds of kilometers) earthquakes have proven enigmatic for over 30 years. Here we use high sampling rates at a well near Grants Pass, Oregon, to perform the first simultaneous analysis of both the dynamic response of water level and sustained changes, or steps. We observe a factor of 40 increase in the ratio of water level amplitude to seismic wave ground velocity during a sudden coseismic step. On the basis of this observation we propose a new model for coseismic pore pressure steps in which a temporary barrier deposited by groundwater flow is entrained and removed by the more rapid flow induced by the seismic waves. In hydrothermal areas, this mechanism could lead to 4 Â 10 À2 MPa pressure changes and triggered seismicity.

Earthquakes have been observed to affect hydrological systems in a variety of ways--water well levels can change dramatically, streams can become fuller and spring discharges can increase at the time of earthquakes. Distant earthquakes may even increase the permeability in faults. Most of these hydrological observations can be explained by some form of permeability increase. Here we use the response of water well levels to solid Earth tides to measure permeability over a 20-year period. At the time of each of seven earthquakes in Southern California, we observe transient changes of up to 24 degrees in the phase of the water level response to the dilatational volumetric strain of the semidiurnal tidal components of wells at the Piñon Flat Observatory in Southern California. After the earthquakes, the phase gradually returns to the background value at a rate of less than 0.1 degrees per day. We use a model of axisymmetric flow driven by an imposed head oscillation through a single, laterally extensive, confined, homogeneous and isotropic aquifer to relate the phase response to aquifer properties. We interpret the changes in phase response as due to changes in permeability. At the time of the earthquakes, the permeability at the site increases by a factor as high as three. The permeability increase depends roughly linearly on the amplitude of seismic-wave peak ground velocity in the range of 0.21-2.1 cm s(-1). Such permeability increases are of interest to hydrologists and oil reservoir engineers as they affect fluid flow and might determine long-term evolution of hydrological and oil-bearing systems. They may also be interesting to seismologists, as the resulting pore pressure changes can affect earthquakes by changing normal stresses on faults.

Approximately 0.4% of explosive volcanic eruptions occur within a few days of large, distant earthquakes. This many "triggered" eruptions is much greater than expected by chance. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain triggering through changes in magma overpressure, including the growth of bubbles, the advection of large pressures by rising bubbles, and overturn of magma chambers. Alternatively, triggered eruptions may occur through failure of rocks surrounding stored magma. All these mechanisms require a process that enhances small static stress changes caused by earthquakes or that can convert (the larger) transient, dynamic strains into permanent changes in pressure. All proposed processes, in addition to viscoelastic relaxation of stresses, can result in delayed triggering of eruptions, though quantifying the connection between earthquakes and delayed, triggered eruptions is much more challenging. Mud volcanoes and geysers also respond to distant earthquakes. Mud volcanoes, that discharge mud from depths greater than many hundreds of meters, may be triggered by liquefaction caused by shaking, and may thus be similar to small mud volcanoes that originate within a few meters of the surface. Changes in permeability of the matrix surrounding main geyser conduits, by opening or creating new fractures, may explain the observed changes in their eruption frequency.

Seismologists have never directly observed rupture in Earth’s interior. Instead, they glean information from seismic waves, geodetic measurements, and numerical experiments.

[1] Oscillations in stress, such as those created by earthquakes, can increase permeability and fluid mobility in geologic media. In natural systems, strain amplitudes as small as 10À6 can increase discharge in streams and springs, change the water level in wells, and enhance production from petroleum reservoirs. Enhanced permeability typically recovers to prestimulated values over a period of months to years. Mechanisms that can change permeability at such small stresses include unblocking pores, either by breaking up permeability-limiting colloidal deposits or by mobilizing droplets and bubbles trapped in pores by capillary forces. The recovery time over which permeability returns to the prestimulated value is governed by the time to reblock pores, or for geochemical processes to seal pores. Monitoring permeability in geothermal systems where there is abundant seismicity, and the response of flow to local and regional earthquakes, would help test some of the proposed mechanisms and identify controls on permeability and its evolution.