Induced Seismicity Characterization during Hydraulic‐Fracture Monitoring with a Shallow‐Wellbore Geophone Array and Broadband Sensors

Eaton, David W.; Igonin, Nadine; Poulin, Andrew; Weir, Ronald; Zhang, Hongliang; Pellegrino, Scott; Rodriguez, G. Melian

doi:10.1785/0220180055

Cited by 100 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Recent studies show that most of the induced seismicity in central Alberta is dominated by strike‐slip/thrust faulting mechanisms, whereas limited nondouble‐couple components are related to fluid injection (Eaton et al, ; Wang et al, ). To assess the spatiotemporal changes in faulting characteristics in our study, the focal mechanism solutions were determined by fault‐related (double‐couple) mechanisms using P‐, SH‐, and SV‐wave first‐motion polarities and amplitude information (Snoke, ) from waveforms recorded at four stations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variations in Crustal Seismic Anisotropy Surrounding Induced Earthquakes Near Fox Creek, Alberta

Wang

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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This study analyzes earthquake recordings from four near‐source (<10 km) stations near Fox Creek, Alberta, a region known for hydraulic fracturing‐induced seismicity. We examine the spatiotemporal variations of focal mechanisms and seismic anisotropy in the sedimentary strata. The focal mechanisms of surrounding earthquake swarms are generally consistent with the strike‐slip mechanism of the ML 4.6 earthquake, favoring a flower type of fault structure. The NE‐SW‐orientated fast splitting direction, determined from the shear wave splitting measurements, reflects the combined effects of (1) N‐S faults and (2) NE‐SW time‐dependent hydraulically stimulated fractures. The latter effect dominates the apparent anisotropy during the days leading to the mainshock, while its contributions are reduced by 60–70% after the mainshock. Loss of fluid into the fault damage zone, which causes the closure of fractures, is responsible for the observed spatiotemporal variation of seismic anisotropy near the hydraulic fracturing well.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variations in Crustal Seismic Anisotropy Surrounding Induced Earthquakes Near Fox Creek, Alberta

Wang

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…Figure shows a map of the 15 template events and 4,068 additional events that were detected and located by Eaton et al (). Hypocenters are grouped into distinct spatial clusters, which are numbered according to the order of occurrence.…”

Section: Toc2me Data Setmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This study focuses on four horizontal wells that were completed using hydraulic fracturing over a period of 4 weeks in 2016. The completion program was monitored using a 68‐station array of borehole geophones with an average spacing of 500 m between stations (Eaton et al, ). In addition to the geophone array, six broadband seismometers and an accelerometer were deployed (Figure a).…”

Section: Toc2me Data Setmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilinear Magnitude‐Frequency Distributions and Characteristic Earthquakes During Hydraulic Fracturing

Igonin

Zecevic

Eaton

2018

Geophysical Research Letters

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Previous studies show that a temporal drop in the b value (slope) of magnitude‐frequency distributions observed during hydraulic‐fracturing operations could signify the activation of a preexisting fault system. Based on a new data set from Alberta, Canada, we provide a case study wherein events induced during hydraulic fracturing are localized within spatial clusters with a range of b values from ∼1.0 to ∼2.5. The distribution in b values is related to the orientation and depth distribution of these clusters. As a consequence of the superposition of spatially varying clusters, the catalog for the entire data set yields a bilinear magnitude distribution with exceptionally low apparent b value at larger magnitude levels. Several clusters are compatible (at 95% confidence level) with the characteristic‐earthquake hypothesis, a controversial model for some fault systems wherein episodic large ruptures occur significantly above the maximum‐likelihood Gutenberg‐Richter relationship.

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“…The moveout correction of the envelop functions is determined using a lookup table generated with 2‐D cylindrical coordinates, defined by radial distance and depth. This approach has been successfully applied in several field data sets associated with hydraulic fracturing in western Canada, such as the multistage treatment at the Garrington field in Alberta (Caffagni et al, ), regional earthquakes associated with hydraulic fracturing in the Duvernay shale play (Bao & Eaton, ), and the Tony Creek Dual Microseismic Experiment in the Kaybob‐Duvernay region of Alberta (Eaton et al, ; Zhang et al, ). This waveform‐based Matched Filtering Algorithm was demonstrated to produce a more complete catalog, which enables more robust interpretation of the induced microseismicity and potentially provides novel insights into corresponding dynamic rupture processes.…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The illustration considers values in a general sense and for an illustrative purpose only; different geological settings may result in different relationships between these parameters. Modified after Hardy (), Kwiatek et al (), Zoback and Gorelick (), and Eaton et al ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances and Challenges of Waveform‐Based Seismic Location Methods at Multiple Scales

Tan

Schwarz

et al. 2020

Reviews of Geophysics

132

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Source locations provide fundamental information on earthquakes and lay the foundation for seismic monitoring at all scales. Seismic source location as a classical inverse problem has experienced significant methodological progress during the past century. Unlike the conventional traveltime‐based location methods that mainly utilize kinematic information, a new category of waveform‐based methods, including partial waveform stacking, time reverse imaging, wavefront tomography, and full waveform inversion, adapted from migration or stacking techniques in exploration seismology has emerged. Waveform‐based methods have shown promising results in characterizing weak seismic events at multiple scales, especially for abundant microearthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing in unconventional and geothermal reservoirs or foreshock and aftershock activity potentially preceding tectonic earthquakes. This review presents a comprehensive summary of the current status of waveform‐based location methods, through elaboration of the methodological principles, categorization, and connections, as well as illustration of the applications to natural and induced/triggered seismicity, ranging from laboratory acoustic emission to field hydraulic fracturing‐induced seismicity, regional tectonic, and volcanic earthquakes. Taking into account recent developments in instrumentation and the increasing availability of more powerful computational resources, we highlight recent accomplishments and prevailing challenges of different waveform‐based location methods and what they promise to offer in the near future.

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Induced Seismicity Characterization during Hydraulic‐Fracture Monitoring with a Shallow‐Wellbore Geophone Array and Broadband Sensors

Cited by 100 publications

References 25 publications

Spatiotemporal Variations in Crustal Seismic Anisotropy Surrounding Induced Earthquakes Near Fox Creek, Alberta

Spatiotemporal Variations in Crustal Seismic Anisotropy Surrounding Induced Earthquakes Near Fox Creek, Alberta

Bilinear Magnitude‐Frequency Distributions and Characteristic Earthquakes During Hydraulic Fracturing

Recent Advances and Challenges of Waveform‐Based Seismic Location Methods at Multiple Scales

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