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Preliminary Results of In‐situ Stress Measurements along the Longmenshan Fault Zone after the Wenchuan M s 8.0 Earthquake
Author(s) -
WU Manlu,
ZHANG Yueqiao,
LIAO Chunting,
CHEN Qunce,
MA Yinsheng,
WU Jinsheng,
YAN Junfeng,
QU Mingyi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2009.00098.x
Subject(s) - geology , seismology , borehole , aftershock , epicenter , fault (geology) , stress (linguistics) , plateau (mathematics) , geotechnical engineering , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics
Four months after the Wenchuan M s 8 earthquake in western Sichuan, China, in situ stress measurements were carried out along the Longmenshan fault zone with the purpose of obtaining stress parameters for earthquake hazard assessment. In‐situ stresses were measured in three new boreholes by using overcoring with the piezomagnetic stress gauges for shallow depths and hydraulic fracturing for lower depths. The maximum horizontal stress in shallow depths (∼20 m) is about 4.3 MPa, oriented N19°E, in the epicenter area at Yingxiu Town, about 9.7 MPa, oriented N51°W, at Baoxing County in the southwestern Longmenshan range, and about 2.6 MPa, oriented N39°E, near Kangding in the southernmost zone of the Longmenshan range. Hydraulic fracturing at borehole depths from 100 to 400 m shows a tendency towards increasing stress with depth. A comparison with the results measured before the Wenchuan earthquake along the Longmenshan zone and in the Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the stress level remains relatively high in the southwestern segment of the Longmenshan range, and is still moderate in the epicenter zone. These results provide a key appraisal for future assessment of earthquake hazards of the Longmenshan fault zone and the aftershock occurrences of the Wenchuan earthquake.