Spatial database and website for reservoir-triggered seismicity in Brazil

Abstract

After confirming that impoundment of large reservoirs could cause earthquakes, studies on reservoir-triggered seismicity (RTS) have had a considerable scientific incentive. Most of the studies determined that the vertical load increase due to reservoir load, and the reduction of effective force due to the increase in pore pressure, can modify the stress field in the reservoir region, possibly triggering earthquakes. In addition, the RTS is conditioned by several factors such as pre-existing tectonic stresses, reservoir height/weight, area-specific geological and hydromechanical conditions, constructive interaction between the orientation of seismotectonic forces, and additional load caused by the reservoir. One of the major challenges in studying RTS is to identify and correlate the factors in the area of influence of the reservoir, capable of influencing the RTS process itself. A spatial seismicity-triggered reservoir database was created to facilitate the research in this field, based on the specifications of the national spatial data infrastructure (INDE), and to assemble data pertinent to the RTS study in the area of reservoirs. In this context, this work presents the procedures and results found in the data processing of seismotectonic factors (dam height, reservoir capacity, lithology, and seismicity) and compared first to the dams that triggered earthquakes and secondly to the Brazilian dam list. The list has been updated with four more cases, making a total of 30 cases. The results indicate that the occurrence of RTS increases significantly with dam height since dams less than 50 m high cause only 2 % of earthquakes while those higher than 100 m cause about 54 %. The reservoir volume also plays a role, and it was estimated that RTS occurrence requires a limiting minimum value of 1×10-4 km3. There was no clear correlation between the geology and geological provinces with RTS. The delayed response time of the reservoirs represents 43 % of the total; that is, almost half of them have hydraulic behavior. The highest magnitude, 4.2, was observed at a reservoir with a volume greater than 10−3 km3. As a practical outcome, to assist the analysis by the general community, the web viewer RISBRA (Reservoir Induced Seismicity in Brazil) was developed to serve as an interactive platform for Reservoir-Triggered Seismicity Database (BDSDR) data.