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EARTHQUAKE ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2): 115-131.doi: 10.12196/j.issn.1000-3274.2025.02.008

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The Typical Anomaly Characteristics of the Underground Fluid before the 2020 Tangshan M5.1 Earthquake

SUN Yu-fei1,2, REN Jia1,2, ZHANG Fan1,2, ZHANG Feng-qiu1,2, ZHI Nan1,2, JIANG Jia-ning1,2   

  1. 1. Hebei Hongshan National Observatory on Thick Sediments and Seismic Hazards, Shijiazhuang 050021, China;
    2. Zhangjiakou Earthquake Monitoring Center Station, Zhangjiakou 075000, China
  • Received:2024-04-23 Accepted:2024-06-24 Published:2025-09-05

Abstract: Earthquake underground fluid anomalies play an important role in earthquake prediction and regional risk evaluation. This paper analyzes and summarizes the underground fluid anomalies near the epicenter of Tangshan M5.1 earthquake on July 12, 2020. The results show that: Before the earthquake, there were 8 underground fluid precursor anomalies within 250 km from the epicenter in Hebei and Tianjin. Typical anomalies can be divided into two categories, one is water level anomaly and the other is water temperature anomaly. The abnormal time is mainly 1~6 months. The relationship between the occurrence time of anomaly and the epicenter distance is not obvious. The abnormal shape is consistent with that of previous earthquake cases and has obvious repeatability. From the perspective of spatial location, the anomaly is mainly distributed within 100 km of the epicenter, and the anomaly is mainly distributed along the Tangshan fault zone in the northeast direction. The results of source mechanism solution show that the strike of the seismic fault is 235°, the dip angle is 76°, the slip angle is -173°, and the focal depth is 14 km. The direction of compressive stress induced by source mechanism solution is the same as that of fluid anomaly distribution before the earthquake. It shows that the underground fluid anomaly is not only caused by the activity of seismic source body, but also results from the change of tectonic stress in northeast direction in North China, which is influenced by the control of tectonic activity. The research results are helpful in identifying the abnormal changes of underground fluid precursor related to tectonic activity and provide reference for earthquake tracking.

Key words: Tangshan, Hebei Province M5.1 earthquake, Underground fluid, Typical anomaly, Feature analysis

CLC Number: