Publication Date:
2013-05-01
Description:
[1] The statistics of large earthquakes commonly involve large uncertainties due to the lack of long-term, robust earthquake recordings. Small-scale seismic events are abundant and can be used to examine variations in fault structure and stress. We report on the connection between stress and micro-seismic event statistics prior to the possibly smallest earthquakes: those generated in the laboratory. We investigate variations in seismic b value of acoustic emission events during the stress build-up and release on laboratory-created fault zones. We show that b values mirror periodic stress changes that occur during series of stick-slip events, and are correlated with stress over many seismic cycles. Moreover, the amount of b value increase associated with slip events indicates the extent of the corresponding stress drop. Consequently, b value variations can be used to approximate the stress state on a fault: a possible tool for the advancement of time-dependent seismic hazard assessment.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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