The observations of spatiotemporal distribution of seismicity in western Canada indicate that the occurrence of earthquakes is tied to the hydraulic fracturing operations and disposal of coproduced wastewater. In this study, we investigate the temporal changes in the frequency‐magnitude distributions for multiple clusters of induced events in regions where the level of background seismicity is low. The induced events are clustered into six major groups using density‐based spatial and soft clustering algorithms based on their epicenters. Each cluster is identified by different distributions of earthquake magnitudes and injection scenarios. The linear relationship between the number of induced earthquakes and cumulative injection volume enables us, on a regional scale, to quantitatively characterize the seismotectonic conditions of the clusters using the estimates of the seismogenic indices. The seismogenic index provides a means to estimate the occurrence probability of earthquakes with a given magnitude induced during injection. The calculated seismogenic indices agree very well with the expected seismic response to hydraulic fracturing and wastewater disposal and show a strong correlation with tectonically accumulated strain energy. Statistical models based on the seismogenic index can be employed to mitigate the potential risk of large magnitude induced events.

中文翻译：

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加拿大西部沉积盆地注入诱发地震群的地震构造状态时空分析

加拿大西部地震时空分布的观察表明，地震的发生与水力压裂作业和共同生产废水的处理有关。在这项研究中，我们调查了背景地震活动水平较低的区域中多个诱发事件簇的频率-幅度分布的时间变化。使用基于密度的空间和软聚类算法根据诱发中心将诱发事件分为六大类。每个聚类通过地震震级和注入情景的不同分布来识别。诱发地震的次数与累积注入量之间的线性关系使我们在区域范围内，用地震发生指数的估计来定量地描述团簇的地震构造条件。发震指数提供了一种手段，可以估算注入过程中给定震级引起的地震发生概率。计算得出的地震发生指数与水力压裂和废水处理的预期地震反应非常吻合，并且与构造累积的应变能有很强的相关性。可以采用基于地震发生指数的统计模型来减轻大幅度诱发事件的潜在风险。计算得出的地震发生指数与水力压裂和废水处理的预期地震反应非常吻合，并且与构造累积的应变能有很强的相关性。可以采用基于地震发生指数的统计模型来减轻大幅度诱发事件的潜在风险。计算得出的地震发生指数与水力压裂和废水处理的预期地震反应非常吻合，并且与构造累积的应变能有很强的相关性。可以采用基于地震发生指数的统计模型来减轻大幅度诱发事件的潜在风险。