U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72–130
AbstractSeven years of seismic data recorded at the Uinta Basin Observatory were searched for earthquakes originating near an oil field at Rangely, Colorado, located 65 km ESE of the observatory. Changes in the number of earthquakes recorded per year appear to correlate with changes in the quantity of fluid injected per year. Between November 1962 and January 1970, 976 earthquakes were detected near the oil field by the UBO station; 320 earthquakes were larger than magnitude 1. Richter magnitudes are estimated from both S-wave and P-wave measurements and a method based on the duration of the seismic signal is used to estimate the magnitude of the larger shocks. The two largest shocks had magnitudes of 3.4 and 3.3. The total seismic energy released was l0l7 ergs. During this same period the energy used for water injection, measured at the wellhead, was 1021 ergs. |
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James F. Gibbs, John H. Healy, C. Barry Raleigh, and John Coakley, 1972, Earthquakes in the oil field at Rangely, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72–130, 48 p. , available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1972/0130/ .
Abstract
Introduction
Uinta Basin Obervatory
Rangely Oilfield
USGS Network
Seismic Interpretation
Magnitude Determinations
Magnitudes Reported by UBO
ML Estimated from Coda Length
Energy
References
one appendix