Seismic monitoring of 2020 Baghjan oil-well blowout incident in Assam, India

Abstract

Abstract Characterization of a productive oil/gas well blowout through seismological methods is relatively uncommon. In this paper, we conduct an in-depth seismic evaluation of one of the world’s most significant onshore oil well blowout incidents, which occurred in 2020 at the Baghjan oil field in Assam, northeast India. We show that the blowout and related on-site activities generated distinct signals that can be distinguished by their spectral characteristics, temporal variation in geometric spreading, and sharp attenuation of daytime noise in comparison to the nighttime. A micro-earthquake potentially triggered by the blowout was also detected. Furthermore, we show how seismic data can be used to reasonably estimate blowout gas exit velocity and flame height. Our results demonstrate that a detailed characterization and spatiotemporal variation of blowout activity can be successfully captured through seismic monitoring, opening new opportunities for hazard mitigation and cost-effective disaster management for such catastrophic events.

Keywords

• Baghjan oil-blowout
• Blowout quake
• Rayleigh waves
• Air-ground-coupled air waves (AGCA)