1887
Volume 73, Issue 6
  • E-ISSN: 1365-2478
PDF

Abstract

ABSTRACT

For this investigation, we exploit local‐distance P‐ and S‐wave observations generated by mining‐related and small‐magnitude events in the Klerksdorp, Orkney, Stilfontein and Harteesfontein (KOSH) mining region of South Africa to explore the robustness and variability of low‐yield P‐to‐S‐wave amplitude ratios. P/S amplitude ratios are traditionally used in discrimination studies between earthquakes and explosions recorded at regional and teleseismic distances ( 200 km) and for relatively large magnitude events. Few studies have explored the variability of P/S amplitude ratios using data recorded at local distances, distances 200 km, where more scrutiny of wave propagation, near‐surface geology, and source and strain release patterns is required. We took advantage of the dense surface accelerometer cluster network, KOSH, for our variability analysis. Final results show that most of the locally recorded low‐magnitude events in the Klerksdorp region have comparable shear wave energy to low‐magnitude earthquakes. Consequently, our time‐domain rms‐based P and S amplitude measurements result in stable event average P/S ratios likely to separate from explosive sources. We demonstrate the expected variability of the ratios with smaller network simulations (three‐, five‐, seven‐station) to show that ratios remain relatively stable between 1 and 30 Hz.

© 2025 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers. © 2025 The Author(s). Geophysical Prospecting published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1111/1365-2478.70053
2025-07-24
2026-02-06

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1111/1365-2478.70053
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/gpr/73/6/gpr70053.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1111/1365-2478.70053&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Aki, K., and P. G.Richards. 2002. Quantitative Seismology, 2 ed.University Science Books.
  2. Ammon, C. J., A. A.Velasco, T.Lay, and T. C.Wallace. 2020. Foundations of Modern Global Seismology, 2 ed.Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2017‐0‐03756‐4.
  3. Anikiev, D., C.Birnie, U. bin Waheed, T.Alkhalifah, C.Gu, D. J.Verschuur, and L.Eisner. 2023. “Machine Learning in Microseismic Monitoring.” Earth‐Science Reviews239: 104371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104371.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Birch, D., A.Cichowicz, and D.Grobbelaar. 2015. “Q‐Coda Estimation in the Kaapvaal Craton.” The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy115: 541–548.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Boettcher, M. S., D. L.Kane, A.McGarr, M. J. S.Johnston, and Z.Reches. 2015. “Moment Tensors and Other Source Parameters of Mining‐Induced Earthquakes in TauTona Mine, South Africa.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America105: 1576–1593. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120140300.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Brandt, M. B. C.2016. “Qc and QS Wave Attenuation of South African earthquakes.” Journal of Seismology20: 439–447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950‐015‐9536‐6.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Brocher, T. M.2005. “Empirical Relations Between Elastic Wavespeeds and Density in the Earth's Crust.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America95: 2081–2092. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120050077.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Durrheim, R., R.Anderson, A.Cichowicz, R. Ebrahim‐Trolloped, G.Hubert, A.Kijko, A.McGarr, W.Ortlepp, and N.van der Merwe. 2006. “The Risks to Miners, Mines, and the Public Posed by Large Seismic Events in the Gold Mining Districts of South Africa.” In Deep Mining 2006: Proceedings of the Third International Seminar on Deep and High Stress Mining, edited by J.Hadjigeorgiou and M.Grenon, 1–14. Australian Centre for Geomechanics.
  9. Durrheim, R., H.Ogasawara, M.Nakatani, Y.Yabe, H.Kawakata, M.Naoi, A.Ward, S.Murphy, J.Wienand, P.Lenegan, A.Milev, O.Murakami, N.Yoshimitsu, T.Kgarume, and A.Cichowicz. 2012. “Establishment of SATREPS Experimental Sites in South African Gold Mines to Monitor Phenomena Associated With Earthquake Nucleation and Rupture.” In Deep Mining 2012, Proceedings of the Sixth International Seminar on Deep and High Stress Mining, edited by Y.Potvin, 173–187. Australian Centre for Geomechanics.
  10. Durrheim, R.J. 2015. The History of Geophysics in Southern Africa, 1 ed., 22–52. African Sun Media.
  11. Ebel, J. E., and K.Bonjer. 1990. “Moment Tensor Inversion of Small Earthquakes in Southwestern Germany for the Fault Plane Solution.” Geophysical Journal International101: 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365‐246X.1990.tb00763.x.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Gay, N., D.Spencer, J.van Wyk, and P.van der Heever. 1984. “The Control of Geological and Mining Parameters in the Klerksdorp Gold Mining District.” In Rockbursts and Seismicity in Mines, edited by N.Gay and E.Wainwright, 107–120. Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
  13. Gibowicz, S. J.1996. “Correlations Between the Seismic Energy Parameters and the Focal Mechanism of Seismic Events Induced By Mining.” Publications of the Institute of Geophysics18: 111–125.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Gibowicz, S. J., and A.Kijko. 1994. An Introduction to Mining Seismology, 1 ed.Academic Press.
  15. Jost, M. L., and R.Herrmann. 1989. “A Student's Guide to and Review of Moment Tensors.” Seismological Research Letters60: 37–57. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.60.2.37.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Julia, J., A. A.Nyblade, R.Durrheim, L.Linzer, R.Gok, P.Dirks, and W.Walter. 2009. “Source Mechanisms of Mine‐Related Seismicity, Savuka Mine, South Africa.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America99: 2801–2814. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120080334.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Kim, W.‐Y., D. W.Simpson, and P. G.Richards. 1993. “Discrimination of Earthquakes and Explosions in the Eastern United States Using Regional High‐Frequency Data.” Geophysical Research Letters20: 1507–1510. https://doi.org/10.1029/93GL01267.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Kintner, J. A., C. J.Ammon, K.Homman, and A.Nyblade. 2020. “Precise Relative Magnitude and Relative Location Estimates of Low‐Yield Industrial Blasts in Pennsylvania.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America110: 226–240. https://doi.org/10.1785/012019163.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Kintner, J. A., K. M.Cleveland, C. J.Ammon, and A.Nyblade. 2020. “Testing A Local‐Distance Rg/Sg Discriminant Using Observations From The Bighorn Region, Wyoming.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America110: 727–741. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120190188.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Kolaj, M.2018. “Discriminating Between Low‐Magnitude Shallow Earthquakes and Road Construction Blasts Near Big Salmon River, New Brunswick, Canada.” Seismological Research Letters89: 1966–1976. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220180077.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Koper, K.D. 2019. “The Importance of Regional Seismic Networks in Monitoring Nuclear Test‐Ban Treaties.” Seismological Research Letters91: 573–580. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220190160.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Kwiatek, G., and Y.Ben‐Zion. 2013. “Assessment of P/S Wave Energy Radiated from Very Small Shear‐Tensile Seismic Events in a Deep South African Mine.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth118: 3630–3641. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrb.50274.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Li, T., M.Cai, and M.Cai. 2007. “A Review of Mining‐Induced Seismicity in China.” International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences44: 1149–1171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2007.06.002.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Malovichko, D.2020. “Description of Seismic Sources in Underground Mines: Theory.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America110: 2124–2137. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120200093.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Manzunzu, B., V.Midzi, A.Mangongolo, and F.Essrich. 2017. “The Aftershock Sequence of the 5 August 2014 Orkney Earthquake (ML 5.5), South Africa.” Journal of Seismology21: 1323–1334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950‐017‐9667‐z.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Manzunzu, B., V.Midzi, T. F.Mulabisana, B.Zulu, T.Pule, S.Myendeki, and G. W.Rathod. 2019. “Seismotectonics of South Africa.” Journal of African Earth Sciences149: 271–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2018.08.012.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Masethe, R. T., M. S. D.Manzi, and R. J.Durrheim. 2023. “Using Legacy 3D Seismic Data and Source Parameters of Mining‐Induced Earthquakes To Mitigate the Risk of Rockbursting in Kloof Gold Mine, South Africa.” Geophysical Prospecting71: 1281–1311. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365‐2478.13319.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. McGarr, A., J.Bicknell, E.Sembera, and R. W. E.Green. 1989. “Analysis of Exceptionally Large Tremors in Two Gold Mining Districts of South Africa.” Pure and Applied Geophysics129: 295–307. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874511.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Midzi, V., T.Pule, B.Manzunzu, T.Mulabisana, B.Zulu, and S.Myendeki. 2020. “Improved Earthquake Location in the Gold Mining Regions of South Africa Using New Velocity Models.” South African Journal of Geology123: 35–58. https://doi.org/10.25131/sajg.123.0008.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Midzi, V., B.Zulu, B.Manzunzu, T.Mulabisana, T.Pule, S.Myendeki, and W.Gubela. 2015. “Macroseismic Survey of the ML5.5 2014 Orkney Earthquake.” Journal of Seismology19: 741–751. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950‐015‐9491‐2.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Mousavi, S. M., and G. C.Beroza. 2023. “Machine Learning in Earthquake Seismology.” Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences51: 105–129. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev‐earth‐071822‐100323.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Moyer, P. A., M. S.Boettcher, W. L.Ellsworth, H.Ogasawara, A.Cichowicz, D.Birch, and G. Van Aswegen. 2017. “Call for Models—A Test Case for the Source Inversion Validation: The 2014 ML 5.5 Orkney, South Africa, earthquake.” Seismological Research Letters88: 1333–1338. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220160218.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Mulabisana, T., V.Midzi, and B.Manzunzu. 2019. “Local Site Effects During the Orkney Earthquake of 5 August 2014.” Pure and Applied Geophysics176: 147–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024‐018‐1959‐x.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Ogasawara, H.2014. “Observational Studies of the Rock Mass Response Mining in Highly Stressed Gold Mines in South Africa.” In Deep Mining 2014: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, edited by M.Hudyma and Y.Potvin, 123–137. Australian Centre for Geomechanics.
  35. Ogasawara, H.2019. “2019 Status Report: Drilling Into Seismogenic Zones of M2.0–M5.5 Earthquakes in South African Gold Mines (DSeis project).” In Deep Mining 2019: Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, 373–384. Australian Centre for Geomechanics.
  36. O'Rourke, C. T., G. E.Baker, and A. F.Sheehan. 2016. “Using P/S Amplitude Ratios for Seismic Discrimination at Local Distances.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America106: 2320–2331. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120160035.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Pyle, M. L., and W.Walter. 2019. “Investigating the Effectiveness of P‐S Amplitude Ratios for Local Distance Event Discrimination.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America109: 1071–1081. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120180256.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Ralph, J., D. Von Bargen, P.Martynov, J.Zhang, X.Que, A.Prabhu, S. M.Morrison, W.Li, W.Chen, and X.Ma. 2025. “Mindat.org: The Open Access Mineralogy Database to Accelerate Data‐Intensive Geoscience Research.” American Mineralogist110: 833–844. https://doi.org/10.2138/am‐2024‐9486.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Singh, M., A.Kijko, and R.Durrheim. 2011. “First‐Order Regional Seismotectonic Model for South Africa.” Natural Hazards59: 383–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069‐011‐9762‐3.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Sykes, L. R., and J. F.Evernden. 1982. “The Verification of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban.” Scientific American247: 477–55. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24966702.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Tape, W., and C.Tape. 2019. “The Eigenvalue Lune as a Window on Moment Tensors.” Geophysical Journal International216: 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy373.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Taylor, S. R., and H. E.Hartse. 1998. “A Procedure for Estimation of Source and Propagation Amplitude Corrections for Regional Seismic Discriminants.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth103: 2781–2789. https://doi.org/10.1029/97JB03292.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Taylor, S. R., N. W.Sherman, and M. D.Denny. 1988. “Spectral Discrimination Between NTS Explosions and Western United States Earthquakes at Regional Distances.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America78: 1563–1579. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0780041563.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Taylor, S. R., A. A.Velasco, H. E.Hartse, W. S.Phillips, W. R.Walter, and A. J.Rodgers. 2002. “Amplitude Corrections for Regional Seismic Discriminants.” Pure and Applied Geophysics159: 623–650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024‐002‐8652‐8.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Voosen, P. 2017. “Deep in a Mine, Earthquake Gold Awaits.” Science356: 891–892. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.356.6341.891.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Walsh, J.B. 1965. “The Effect of Cracks on the Compressibility of Rock.” Journal of Geophysical Research70: 381–389. https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ070i002p00381.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Walter, W. R., and S. R.Taylor. 2001. “A Revised Magnitude and Distance Amplitude Correction (MDAC2) Procedure for Regional Seismic Discriminants Theory and Testing at NTS.” Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Technical Report. https://doi.org/10.2172/15013384.
  48. Wang, T., Y.Bian, Y.Zhang, and X.Hou. 2023. “Classification of Earthquakes, Explosions and Mining‐Induced Earthquakes Based on XGBoost Algorithm.” Computers & Geosciences170: 105242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2022.105242.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Yavuz, E., M. C.Iban, and E.Arpaz. 2023. “Identifying the Source Types of the Seismic Events Using Discriminant Functions and Tree‐Based Machine Learning Algorithms at Soma Region, Turkey.” Environmental Earth Sciences82: 265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665‐023‐10946‐8.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Zhang, J., T.Lay, J.Zaslow, and W. R.Walter. 2002. “Source Effects on Regional Seismic Discriminant Measurements.” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America92: 2926–2945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665‐023‐10946‐8.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1111/1365-2478.70053
Loading
Observations of Local‐Distance P/S Amplitude Ratios from Deep Mine and Natural Seismic Sources: Implications for Seismic‐Source Discrimination
Geophysical Prospecting 73, e70053 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2478.70053
/content/journals/10.1111/1365-2478.70053
/content/journals/10.1111/1365-2478.70053
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): attenuation; data processing; inversion; monitoring; seismics; signal processing; wave

Most Cited This Month Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error