Ground‐Motion Characteristics of the 30 November 2018 Injection‐Induced Earthquake Sequence in Northeast British Columbia, Canada

Research Article| June 19, 2019 Ground‐Motion Characteristics of the 30 November 2018 Injection‐Induced Earthquake Sequence in Northeast British Columbia, Canada Alireza Babaie Mahani; Alireza Babaie Mahani Corresponding Author aGeoscience BC, 1101‐750 W. Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6C 2T7, ali.mahani@mahangeo.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Honn Kao; Honn Kao bPacific Geoscience Center, Geological Survey of Canada, 9860 W. Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada V8L 5T5 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gail M. Atkinson; Gail M. Atkinson cDepartment of Earth Sciences, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Karen Assatourians; Karen Assatourians cDepartment of Earth Sciences, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kofi Addo; Kofi Addo dBC Hydro, 6911 Southpoint Drive, E10, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V3N 4X8 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yajing Liu Yajing Liu eDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2A7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Alireza Babaie Mahani Corresponding Author aGeoscience BC, 1101‐750 W. Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6C 2T7, ali.mahani@mahangeo.com Honn Kao bPacific Geoscience Center, Geological Survey of Canada, 9860 W. Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada V8L 5T5 Gail M. Atkinson cDepartment of Earth Sciences, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7 Karen Assatourians cDepartment of Earth Sciences, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7 Kofi Addo dBC Hydro, 6911 Southpoint Drive, E10, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V3N 4X8 Yajing Liu eDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2A7 Publisher: Seismological Society of America First Online: 19 Jun 2019 Online Issn: 1938-2057 Print Issn: 0895-0695 © Seismological Society of America Seismological Research Letters (2019) 90 (4): 1457–1467. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220190040 Article history First Online: 19 Jun 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Alireza Babaie Mahani, Honn Kao, Gail M. Atkinson, Karen Assatourians, Kofi Addo, Yajing Liu; Ground‐Motion Characteristics of the 30 November 2018 Injection‐Induced Earthquake Sequence in Northeast British Columbia, Canada. Seismological Research Letters 2019;; 90 (4): 1457–1467. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0220190040 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietySeismological Research Letters Search Advanced Search ABSTRACT On 30 November 2018, three felt earthquakes occurred in the Septimus region of northeast British Columbia in an area where hydraulic fracturing was in progress. The proximity of oil and gas activities to populated areas and to critical infrastructure including major dams raises significant concern regarding the seismic hazard posed by moderate induced events and motivates study of their ground motions. Here, we analyze the ground‐motion amplitudes from these events recorded between 3 and 400 km. We use three‐component waveforms from 45 seismometer and accelerometer sensors to analyze the observed ground motions. The moment magnitude (⁠Mw⁠) of the first event is estimated as 4.6 using the vertical pseudoresponse spectral acceleration (PSA) based on the relations provided by Novakovic et al. (2018). The Mw for the two smaller earthquakes are 3.5 and 4.0. The intensity of shaking from the Mw 4.6 and 4.0 events generally exceeded modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) VI at distances <6 km⁠. The maximum duration above the MMI VI threshold at the closest station (3.5 km distance) from the mainshock is 1.6 s. The observed ground motions agree with the ground‐motion prediction equation (GMPE) of Novakovic et al. (2018) for induced events in Oklahoma, with attenuation modified to match that for the study region, assuming typical regional site amplification. The inferred value of stress drop for the mainshock and the largest aftershock is approximately 50 bars based on the agreement of observed PSA values with the Novakovic et al. (2018) GMPE. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.