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Observation of numerous aftershocks of an Mw 1.9 earthquake with an AE network installed in a deep gold mine in South Africa

Earth, Planets and Space volume 61, pages e49–e52 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

This is the first report from the JAGUARS (JApanese-German Underground Acoustic Emission Research in South Africa) project, the overall aim of which is to observe ultra-small fracturing in a more or less natural environment. We installed a local (∼40-m span) network of eight acoustic emission (AE) sensors, which have the capability to observe up to 200 kHz at a depth of 3.3 km in a South African gold mine. Our specific objective was to monitor a 30-m thick dyke that remains as a dip pillar against active mining ∼90 m above our network. An Mw 1.9 earthquake whose hypocenter was ∼30 m above the network occurred in the dyke. Although the mineowned geophone (4.5 Hz) network detected only five earthquakes in the surrounding 200×200×150-m3 volume within the first 150 h following the main shock, our AE network detected more than 20,000 earthquakes in the same period. More than 13,000 of these formed a distinct planar cluster (∼100×80 m2) on which the main shock hypocenter lay, suggesting that this cluster delineates the main shock rupture plane. Most of the aftershocks were presumably very small, probably as low as M ∼ −4. The aftershock cluster dipped ∼60°. This is consistent with normal faulting under a nearly vertical compression field, as indicated by nearly horizontal breakouts found in a borehole crossing the rupture plane.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Yasuo Yabe

  2. GMuG Gesellschaft für Materialprüfung und Geophysik, Dieselstraße 9, 61231, Bad Nauheim, Germany

    Joachim Philipp

  3. Earthquake Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-0032, Japan

    Masao Nakatani, Makoto Naoi & Toshihiro Igarashi

  4. SeismoGen cc, PO Box 1177, Carletonville, 2500, South Africa

    Gilbert Morema

  5. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, 525-8577, Japan

    Hironori Kawakata & Hiroshi Ogasawara

  6. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Georg Dresen

Authors
  1. Yasuo Yabe
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  2. Joachim Philipp
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  3. Masao Nakatani
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  4. Gilbert Morema
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  5. Makoto Naoi
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  6. Hironori Kawakata
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  7. Toshihiro Igarashi
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  8. Georg Dresen
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  9. Hiroshi Ogasawara
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JAGUARS

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Correspondence to Yasuo Yabe.

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Yabe, Y., Philipp, J., Nakatani, M. et al. Observation of numerous aftershocks of an Mw 1.9 earthquake with an AE network installed in a deep gold mine in South Africa. Earth Planet Sp 61, e49–e52 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352963

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Key words

  • Semi-controlled earthquake generation experiment
  • acoustic emission
  • mining-induced earthquake
  • deep South African gold mines
  • aftershocks
  • main shock rupture plane