The 2004 Mw 4.4 Rotenburg, Northern Germany, Earthquake and Its Possible Relationship with Gas Recovery

Dahm, Torsten and Kruger, F. and Stammler, K. and Klinge, K. and Kind, R. and Wylegalla, K. and Grasso, Jean-Robert (2007) The 2004 Mw 4.4 Rotenburg, Northern Germany, Earthquake and Its Possible Relationship with Gas Recovery. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 97 (3). pp. 691-704. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120050149

Full text not available from this repository.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1785/0120050149

Abstract

We study the 20 October 2004 Mw 4.4 Rotenburg (Wumme)/Neuenkirchen earthquake, located in a previously aseismic region in the northern German sedimentary basin. We constrain the source parameter by using different techniques. A possible relationship between this event, the regional tectonic setting, and local gas recovery is investigated. Different waveform inversion and modeling approaches constrain the depth of the mainshock between 5 and 7 km. The source mechanism was oblique normal faulting on planes striking roughly north–south. An inversion for kinematic rupture parameters indicates a unilateral rupture propagation toward the north, consistent with the higher macroseismic intensities found toward the north in the region of Hamburg compared with those at a similar distance toward the south in the region of Hannover. Relocations of the mainshock and three of the largest aftershocks indicate that these events occurred within a few kilometers of three major gas fields and at depth close to gas production intervals. Comparison with seismicity triggered in the northern Netherlands by depletion of similar gas reservoirs in a similar tectonic environment suggests that the Mw 4.4 Rotenburg event may be related to gas recovery.

[error in script]
Item Type: Article
Subjects: Region > Germany > Rotenburg
Inducing technology > Conventional hydrocarbon extraction
Methodology > Method and procesing
Project: IS-EPOS project