EFFECTS OF THE JANUARY 30, 2016, Mw=7.2 ZHUPANOVSKY EARTHQUAKE ON THE WATER LEVEL VARIATIONS IN WELLS YUZ-5 AND E-1 IN KAMCHATKA

• Published in: Geodynamics & Tectonophysics
• Main Authors: S. V. Boldina, G. N. Kopylova
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Institute of the Earth's crust 2017
• Subjects: well; water level; earthquake; precursor; coseismic deformation; post-seismic water level change; kamchatka; Science; Q; Kamchatka
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5800/GT-2017-8-4-0321; https://doaj.org/article/8d36d0ee4ccf4697a369b446c7511067

This paper describes the water level variations in wells YuZ-5 and E-1 inKamchatkaduring the Zhu­panovsky earthquake that occurred on January 30, 2016 (Mw=7.2, Н=180 km). The distances from the Zhupanovsky earthquake epicenter to wells E-1 and YuZ-5 were 70 and 80 km, respectively. In well YuZ-5, the water level raised by 9.4 cm during 45 minutes after the seismic wave arrival. This effect was caused by a combination of a co-seismic rise in the water level due to the volumetric compression of the water-bearing rocks during fracturing in the earthquake source and an impulse increase in the fluid pressure near the wellbore during the seismic shocks. We estimated the amplitude of the coseismic water level increase (Dh=7.3 cm) and the strain value resulting from the volumetric compression of the water-bearing rocks, which is consistent with the estimated value of the coseismic volumetric deformation in the area of the well at the depth of 500m: D1 = –4.5×10–8. This estimation was based on the model of the dislocation source in the homogeneous isotropic elastic half-space with the parameters of the Zhupanovsky earthquake focal mechanism. After the earthquake, the water level dropped for three months at an amplitude of about ~40 cm. In order to estimate the radius of the well sensitivity to the pressure drop source, we used the model of water level lowering that followed the pressure drop in the aquifer at a distance to the well as a result of the improved filtration properties of the water-bearing rocks after the seismic shocks. The estimated radius of the well sensitivity, R is 450 m. For 3.5 months before the Zhupanovsky earthquake, ~20 cm increase in the water level was observed, which is anomalous in comparison with the average seasonal variations of the water level, as shown by the long-term observations. In our opinion, such a rise in the water level occurred in the process of the earthquake preparation, and can thus be viewed as its precursor. In well E-1, a sequence of water level changes manifested a ...