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Role of fluid injection on earthquake size in dynamic rupture simulations on rough faults
  • Jeremy Maurer,
  • Eric M Dunham,
  • Paul Segall
Jeremy Maurer
Missouri University of Science and Technology

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Eric M Dunham
Stanford University
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Paul Segall
Stanford University
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Abstract

An outstanding question for induced seismicity is whether the volume of injected fluid and/or the spatial extent of the resulting pore pressure and stress perturbations limit rupture size. We simulate ruptures with and without injection-induced pore pressure perturbations, using 2-D dynamic rupture simulations on rough faults. Ruptures are not necessarily limited by pressure perturbations when 1) background shear stress is above a critical value, or 2) pore pressure is high. Both conditions depend on fault roughness. Stress heterogeneity from fault roughness primarily determines where ruptures stop; pore pressure has a secondary effect. Ruptures may be limited by fluid volume or pressure extent when background stress and fault roughness are low, and the maximum pore pressure perturbation is less than 10% of the background effective normal stress. Future work should combine our methodology with simulation of the loading, injection, and nucleation phases to improve understanding of injection-induced ruptures.
16 Jul 2020Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 47 issue 13. 10.1029/2020GL088377