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The Dallas‐Fort Worth Airport Earthquake Sequence: Seismicity Beyond Injection Period
Author(s) -
Ogwari Paul O.,
DeShon Heather R.,
Hornbach Matthew J.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1002/2017jb015003
Subject(s) - induced seismicity , seismology , geology , sequence (biology) , fault (geology) , earthquake swarm , genetics , biology
The 2008 Dallas‐Fort Worth Airport earthquakes mark the beginning of seismicity rate changes linked to oil and gas operations in the central United States. We assess the spatial and temporal evolution of the sequence through December 2015 using template‐based waveform correlation and relative location methods. We locate ~400 earthquakes spanning 2008–2015 along a basement fault mapped as the Airport fault. The sequence exhibits temporally variable b values, and small‐magnitude ( m < 3.4) earthquakes spread northeast along strike over time. Pore pressure diffusion models indicate that the high‐volume brine injection well located within 1 km of the 2008 earthquakes, although only operating from September 2008 to August 2009, contributes most significantly to long‐term pressure perturbations, and hence stress changes, along the fault; a second long‐operating, low‐volume injector located 10 km north causes insufficient pressure changes. High‐volume injection for a short time period near a critically stressed fault can induce long‐lasting seismicity.