Forecasting induced seismicity in Oklahoma using machine learning methods.

Journal: Scientific reports
PMID:

Abstract

Oklahoma earthquakes in the past decade have been mostly associated with wastewater injection. Here we use a machine learning technique-the Random Forest to forecast induced seismicity rate in Oklahoma based on injection-related parameters. We split the data into training (2011.01-2015.05) and test (2015.06-2020.12) periods. The model forecasts seismicity rate during the test period based on input features, including operational parameters (injection rate and pressure), geological information (depth to basement), and modeled pore pressure and poroelastic stress. The results show overall good match with observed seismicity rate (adjusted [Formula: see text] of 0.75). The model shows that pore pressure rate and poroelastic stressing rates are the two most important features in forecasting. The absolute values of pore pressure and poroelastic stress, and the injection rate itself, are less important than the stressing rates. These findings further emphasize that temporal changes of stressing rates would lead to significant changes in seismicity rates.

Authors

  • Yan Qin
    First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
  • Ting Chen
    CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology (LAMB), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China. chan1010@scsio.ac.cn.
  • Xiaofei Ma
    Geophysics Group, Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, 87545, USA.
  • Xiaowei Chen
    School of Elderly Care Services and Management, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210023, China.