Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin
Abstract Subsurface wastewater injection has increased the seismicity rate within the Raton Basin over more than two decades, with the basin‐wide injection rate peaked between 2009 and 2015. To understand the evolution of injection‐induced earthquakes, we systematically analyzed 2016–2024 broadband...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114675 |
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| author | Mohammadreza Jamalreyhani Ruijia Wang Brandon Schmandt Andres Felipe Peña Castro Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow |
| author_facet | Mohammadreza Jamalreyhani Ruijia Wang Brandon Schmandt Andres Felipe Peña Castro Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow |
| author_sort | Mohammadreza Jamalreyhani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Subsurface wastewater injection has increased the seismicity rate within the Raton Basin over more than two decades, with the basin‐wide injection rate peaked between 2009 and 2015. To understand the evolution of injection‐induced earthquakes, we systematically analyzed 2016–2024 broadband recordings with a machine‐learning‐based phase picker and constructed a catalog with 95,993 earthquakes (−1 ≤ ML ≤ 4.3). We then inverted for full centroid moment tensors (CMT) for 90 ML ≥ 2 events, with a special interest in constraining the non‐double‐couple components via probabilistic metrics. Both relocations and CMT solutions support basement‐rooted normal faults, including graben and half‐graben structures. Furthermore, we observe the non‐double‐couple components that imply elevated pore pressure in the fault zones. An earthquake cluster emerged in the north‐central basin in 2023, preceded by ∼1‐yr of increased injection volume from wells within 15 km. Despite a basin‐wide decrease in the injection volume, we highlight the persistence of seismicity that remains sensitive to injection rates within the Raton Basin. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ab3abb4d8d4f41f284c7e24f92df3f22 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-ab3abb4d8d4f41f284c7e24f92df3f222025-08-20T02:56:24ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-07-015213n/an/a10.1029/2025GL114675Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton BasinMohammadreza Jamalreyhani0Ruijia Wang1Brandon Schmandt2Andres Felipe Peña Castro3Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow4Department of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaDepartment of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaDepart of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Rice University Houston TX USADepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM USAUnited States Geological Survey California Volcano Observatory Moffett Field CA USAAbstract Subsurface wastewater injection has increased the seismicity rate within the Raton Basin over more than two decades, with the basin‐wide injection rate peaked between 2009 and 2015. To understand the evolution of injection‐induced earthquakes, we systematically analyzed 2016–2024 broadband recordings with a machine‐learning‐based phase picker and constructed a catalog with 95,993 earthquakes (−1 ≤ ML ≤ 4.3). We then inverted for full centroid moment tensors (CMT) for 90 ML ≥ 2 events, with a special interest in constraining the non‐double‐couple components via probabilistic metrics. Both relocations and CMT solutions support basement‐rooted normal faults, including graben and half‐graben structures. Furthermore, we observe the non‐double‐couple components that imply elevated pore pressure in the fault zones. An earthquake cluster emerged in the north‐central basin in 2023, preceded by ∼1‐yr of increased injection volume from wells within 15 km. Despite a basin‐wide decrease in the injection volume, we highlight the persistence of seismicity that remains sensitive to injection rates within the Raton Basin.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114675Raton Basininduced seismicitymachine learningfull centroid moment tensorwastewater injection |
| spellingShingle | Mohammadreza Jamalreyhani Ruijia Wang Brandon Schmandt Andres Felipe Peña Castro Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin Geophysical Research Letters Raton Basin induced seismicity machine learning full centroid moment tensor wastewater injection |
| title | Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin |
| title_full | Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin |
| title_short | Evidence for Fluid Pressurization of Fault Zones and Persistent Sensitivity to Injection Rate Beneath the Raton Basin |
| title_sort | evidence for fluid pressurization of fault zones and persistent sensitivity to injection rate beneath the raton basin |
| topic | Raton Basin induced seismicity machine learning full centroid moment tensor wastewater injection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114675 |
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