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Seismic Signals in Well Water Observations

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Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Synonyms

Anomalous water level changes; Groundwater anomalies; Hydrological earthquake precursor

Definition

Seismic signalsin well water observations– temporal rise or fall in well water level fluctuations induced by earthquakes.

Introduction

Seismic waves generated during an earthquake cause oscillations and permanent offsets in well water levels. Liu et al. (1989) explained the oscillations in terms of expansion and contraction of pore pressure changes induced by seismic waves. Systematic monitoring of well water levels has led to identification of anomalous pre-, co-, post-, and transient changes in well water levels related to earthquakes (Roeloffs 1996). These signals are believed to reflect pore pressure changes related to the redistribution of stress in the near and far fields of dislocation sources. The co-, post-, and transient seismic changes appear as a step or spikelike anomaly in well water oscillations and recover post-earthquake depending on the transmissivity of the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR:National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India

    R. K. Chadha

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  1. R. K. Chadha
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Correspondence to R. K. Chadha .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Geophysical Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Hyderabad, India

    Harsh K. Gupta

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Chadha, R.K. (2021). Seismic Signals in Well Water Observations. In: Gupta, H.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58631-7_188

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