Study on the response characteristics of source parameters for strong mining tremors

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15233/gfz.2025.42.8

Keywords:

strong mine tremor, Source parameters, Response characteristics, Genetic algorithm, Brune model

Abstract

Mine tremors are a significant factor contributing to safety accidents in mining areas, and studying the characteristics of the rupture process at the source of mine tremor is crucial for improving the understanding of the disaster mechanism caused by mine tremors.This paper conducts an in-depth analysis and study of 69 strong mine tremor in Shandong mining areas in China using a combination of numerical simulation and theoretical analysis.Firstly, the waveform recording of strong mine tremors is processed using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Subsequently, the noise term, instrument response, path effect, and site response of the monitoring station are eliminated from the waveform recording.Finally, based on the Brune source model, a genetic algorithm is utilized to fit and obtain the source parameters, the response characteristics of source parameters for strong mining tremors are analyzed, and the scale of focal rupture as well as the characteristics of regional stress release are revealed.The results showed that the calculated corner frequencies, seismic moments, moment magnitudes, and stress drops of these strong mining tremors were in the ranges of  0.9-3 Hz, 10¹³-10¹⁵ N·m, 2.7-3.7, and 0.009-0.065 MPa, respectively. The results showed that the mine tremors exhibited cross-correlation relationships between the source parameters similar to those of earthquakes.. This demonstrates that various source parameters of mine tremors have the same physical significance as those of earthquakes in representing the scale of focal rupture and magnitude of regional stress.However, the stress drops of  strong mining tremors were orders of magnitude lower than those of earthquakes, indicating that the background stresses of the mining tremors were far smaller than those of earthquakes. This signifies that even relatively small changes in regional stress can potentially trigger the occurrence of mining tremors, we need to pay close attention to factors that can cause regional stress changes during the resource extraction process in mining areas. Meanwhile, compared to earthquake of the same magnitude, mine tremors exhibit a larger rupture scale of the focal body, which may also be one of the reasons why the surface ground motion is often more intense than those caused by earthquakes of the same size. This provides theoretical support for the monitoring and assessment of the risk associated with strong mine tremors.

Published

2025-10-01

Issue

Section

Original scientific paper