Increased stream discharge after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee, Oklahoma earthquake

Michael Manga; Chi Yuen Wang; Manoochehr Shirzaei

doi:10.1002/2016GL071268

Increased stream discharge after the 3 September 2016 M_w 5.8 Pawnee, Oklahoma earthquake

Michael Manga, Chi Yuen Wang, Manoochehr Shirzaei

Earth and Space Exploration, School of (SESE)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Earthquakes influence hydrogeological processes and properties in Earth's crust, some of which affect surface waters. We document increased discharge in a stream after the 3 September 2016 M_w 5.8 earthquake near Pawnee, Oklahoma, an event likely induced by underground wastewater disposal. Discharge increased by an order of magnitude and remained elevated until the change was obscured by rain 1 week later. Given the earthquake magnitude and distance from the stream, by comparison with previous examples of responses to earthquakes, increased discharge after this earthquake is expected. While the mechanism increasing discharge cannot be confirmed, the observations require changes in physical properties of the subsurface. Fluid injection may thus influence hydrogeological properties of shallow groundwater systems and aquifers indirectly by inducing seismicity, if the induced seismic events are large enough.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	11,588-11,594
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	43
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071268
State	Published - Nov 28 2016

Keywords

induced earthquake
permeability change
stream discharge

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

Access to Document

10.1002/2016GL071268

Cite this

@article{1e54bc37f1494314af5be235c25adbc0,

title = "Increased stream discharge after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee, Oklahoma earthquake",

abstract = "Earthquakes influence hydrogeological processes and properties in Earth's crust, some of which affect surface waters. We document increased discharge in a stream after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 earthquake near Pawnee, Oklahoma, an event likely induced by underground wastewater disposal. Discharge increased by an order of magnitude and remained elevated until the change was obscured by rain 1 week later. Given the earthquake magnitude and distance from the stream, by comparison with previous examples of responses to earthquakes, increased discharge after this earthquake is expected. While the mechanism increasing discharge cannot be confirmed, the observations require changes in physical properties of the subsurface. Fluid injection may thus influence hydrogeological properties of shallow groundwater systems and aquifers indirectly by inducing seismicity, if the induced seismic events are large enough.",

keywords = "induced earthquake, permeability change, stream discharge",

author = "Michael Manga and Wang, {Chi Yuen} and Manoochehr Shirzaei",

note = "Funding Information: This paper is supported by NSF grant EAR1344424 to M.M., C.Y.W., and M.S. We thank the U.S. Geological Survey for operating the network on gauging stations and making the hydrological and seismic data and data products readily available and in real time. We thank Jason Lewis, William Andrews, Brad Sewell, and staff in the city of Pawnee for answering queries about the responses and possible confounding processes, and Estella Atekwana for sharing the locations where liquefaction occurred. We thank the reviewers and Editor for constructive comments and suggestions. Data used to generate the figures are available from the authors upon request. The USGS discharge and precipitation data are available from http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",

year = "2016",

month = nov,

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doi = "10.1002/2016GL071268",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "43",

pages = "11,588--11,594",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

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AU - Manga, Michael

AU - Wang, Chi Yuen

AU - Shirzaei, Manoochehr

N1 - Funding Information: This paper is supported by NSF grant EAR1344424 to M.M., C.Y.W., and M.S. We thank the U.S. Geological Survey for operating the network on gauging stations and making the hydrological and seismic data and data products readily available and in real time. We thank Jason Lewis, William Andrews, Brad Sewell, and staff in the city of Pawnee for answering queries about the responses and possible confounding processes, and Estella Atekwana for sharing the locations where liquefaction occurred. We thank the reviewers and Editor for constructive comments and suggestions. Data used to generate the figures are available from the authors upon request. The USGS discharge and precipitation data are available from http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis. Publisher Copyright: ©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

PY - 2016/11/28

Y1 - 2016/11/28

N2 - Earthquakes influence hydrogeological processes and properties in Earth's crust, some of which affect surface waters. We document increased discharge in a stream after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 earthquake near Pawnee, Oklahoma, an event likely induced by underground wastewater disposal. Discharge increased by an order of magnitude and remained elevated until the change was obscured by rain 1 week later. Given the earthquake magnitude and distance from the stream, by comparison with previous examples of responses to earthquakes, increased discharge after this earthquake is expected. While the mechanism increasing discharge cannot be confirmed, the observations require changes in physical properties of the subsurface. Fluid injection may thus influence hydrogeological properties of shallow groundwater systems and aquifers indirectly by inducing seismicity, if the induced seismic events are large enough.

AB - Earthquakes influence hydrogeological processes and properties in Earth's crust, some of which affect surface waters. We document increased discharge in a stream after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 earthquake near Pawnee, Oklahoma, an event likely induced by underground wastewater disposal. Discharge increased by an order of magnitude and remained elevated until the change was obscured by rain 1 week later. Given the earthquake magnitude and distance from the stream, by comparison with previous examples of responses to earthquakes, increased discharge after this earthquake is expected. While the mechanism increasing discharge cannot be confirmed, the observations require changes in physical properties of the subsurface. Fluid injection may thus influence hydrogeological properties of shallow groundwater systems and aquifers indirectly by inducing seismicity, if the induced seismic events are large enough.

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