Earthquake location and tomography

We use a variety of earthquake (re)location programs and in-house developed algorithms to improve the locations of seismic events. These methods have been successfully applied to both natural seismicity (e.g. swarm earthquakes in West Bohemia-Vogtland) and induced or man-made earthquakes (e.g. mining related). Precicely located earthquakes can illuminate previously unknown faults and provide insights into the local conditions that lead to ruptures.

The accuracy of the event locations is strongly dependent on the subsurface velocity model. We use both first arrival and double-difference tomography to calculate high resolution velocity models. These programs are also used to develop the velocity models necessary for active seismic data processing.

Contact: Catherine Alexandrakis, Felix Hlousek

Peer reviewed Publications

Alexandrakis, C., M. Calo, F. Bouchaala, V. Vavrycuk, 2014. Velocity structure and the role of fluids in the West Bohemia seismic zone. Solid Earth, 5, 863-872, doi: 10.5194/se-5-863-2014

Alexandrakis, C., M. Calo, V. Vavrycuk, 2013. Double-difference tomography and its application to the West Bohemia Seismic Zone. Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft Mitteilungen, 3, 5-10.

Hassani, H., Hlousek, F., Alexandrakis, C., Buske, S., Migration-based microseismic event location in the Schlema-Alberoda mining area. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2018.08.002, 2018.

Hlousek, F., Hellwig, O., Buske, S., Three-dimensional focused seismic imaging for geothermal exploration in crystalline rock (Schneeberg, Germany). Geophysical Prospecting, 10.1111/1365-2478.12239, 2015.

Krauß, F., R. Giese, C. Alexandrakis, S. Buske, 2014. Seismic travel-time attenuation tomography to characterize the excavation damaged zone and the surrounding rock mass of a newly excavated ramp and chamber. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 70, 524-532, doi: 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2014.06.010

Theses

Beisembina, G. T. 2015. Sensitivity analysis of a location algorithm in the case of mining induced seismicity. Master Thesis, TU Bergakademie Freiberg

Epple, N., 2016. Locating upper Vogtland earthquakes using the NonLinLoc software packages. Bachelor Thesis, TU Bergakademie Freiberg

John, S.: Seismische Ersteinsatztomographie des 3D-Schneeberg Datensatzes, Master Thesis, Freiberg, 2015.
Kieslich, A. 2016. 1D and 3D velocity analysis of the West Bohemia Seismic Zone, Master Thesis, TU Bergakademie Freiberg

Klaffenbach, M., S-Wellen-Tomographie aus seismischen Dreikomponenten Oberflächen- und Bohrloch-Daten an der COSC-1 Tiefbohrung (Schweden). Msc thesis TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 2017

Löberich, E. 2015. Double-difference tomography in the West Bohemia Seismic Zone – A study of the 2011 Earthquake Swarm. Master Thesis, TU Bergakademie Freiberg

Zschoke, K., Ableitung eines Geschwindigkeitsmodells im Bereich der COSC-1 Tiefbohrung. MSc thesis, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 2015