Are recent seismic swarms around Harrat Lunayyir (Saudi Arabia) associated with magmatic intrusions?

Research output: Other contributionResearch

Documents

  • Adriano Nobile
  • Youssof, Mohammad
  • Daniele Trippanera
  • Hani M. Zaharan
  • Martin Mai
  • Sigurjón Jónsson
In volcanic fields, magmatic intrusions are usually preceded and accompanied by seismic swarm. Even if the intrusions do not culminate in an eruption, these events typically produce ground deformation that can be observed using geodetic techniques such as InSAR. It is therefore important to combine seismic and geodetic data to better understand these magmatic processes and to find out whether a seismic swarm is associated with a magmatic intrusion or not. One example occurred in Harrat Lunayyir volcanic field, in Saudi Arabia, where a seismic swarm of 30000 earthquakes hit between April and July 2009 with the largest earthquake of Mw 5.7. Extensive surface fractures formed over 10km in length at the height of the activity. The ground displacements measured with InSAR showed that the swarm was accompanied by a dyke intrusion, estimated to be 7km in length and with an opening of up to 4m. During the past two years, the Harrat Lunayyir region has been hit by two new seismic swarms. The first one, located about 60km to the North, started in February 2017 and lasted until August 2018. The second swarm, located about 30km to the West, started in late September 2018 and is still ongoing. These swarms are characterized by frequent earthquakes of Ml
Original languageEnglish
Publication date1 Apr 2019
PublisherCopernicus/EGU
Volume21
Number of pages1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2019
Externally publishedYes
Series21st EGU General Assembly, EGU2019, Proceedings from the conference held 7-12 April, 2019 in Vienna, Austria

ID: 304874616