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Fault activation during hydraulic fracturing
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0
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2009
Year
Unknown Venue
Fault ActivationEngineeringSeismic WaveFracture SurveillanceEarthquake HazardsWell StimulationMicroseismic ImagingGeotechnical EngineeringGeophysicsEarthquake SourceFracturing FluidsHydraulic FractureHydraulic FracturingEarthquake EngineeringInduced SeismicitySeismic ImagingFractured Reservoir EngineeringEarthquake RuptureEngineering GeologyFault GeometryStructural GeologySeismologyCivil EngineeringGeomechanicsSeismic Deformation RateDynamic Crack Propagation
Microseismic imaging tracked hydraulic fracturing during a gas well stimulation. After injection, seismic deformation rate rose, with post‑pumping activity resembling natural fault deformation and differing p/s‑wave amplitude ratios, indicating that the hydraulic fracture triggered movement on a nearby fault.
Microseismic imaging was used to image hydraulic fracturing during a gas well stimulation. Some time after the end of the injection, there was an increase in the seismic deformation rate. Investigation of the frequency‐magnitude characteristics during the pumping were consistent with other hydraulic fracture results, although the activity recorded after the end of pumping was more consistent with observations of natural seismic deformation along faults. The ratio of p‐ to s‐wave amplitudes also varied for events recorded during the pumping compared to those occurring after the end of pumping, suggesting a different failure mechanism. In this example, it appears that the hydraulic fracture induced movement on a nearby fault.