Limited earthquake interaction during a geothermal hydraulic stimulation
in Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
We investigate induced seismicity associated with a hydraulic
stimulation campaign performed in 2020 in the 5.8 km deep geothermal
OTN-2 well near Helsinki, Finland as part of the St1 Deep Heat project.
A total of 2,875 m3 of fresh water was injected during
16 days at well-head pressures <70 MPa and with flow rates
between 400-1000 l/min. The seismicity was monitored using a
high-resolution seismic network composed of 10 borehole geophones
surrounding the project site and a borehole array of 10 geophones
located in adjacent OTN-3 well. A total of 6,121 induced earthquakes
with local magnitudes were recorded during and after the stimulation
campaign. The analyzed statistical parameters include
magnitude-frequency b-value, interevent time and interevent time
ratio, as well as magnitude correlations. We find that the
b-value remained stationary for the entire injection period
suggesting limited stress build-up or limited fracture network
coalescence in the reservoir. The seismicity during the stimulation
neither shows signatures of magnitude correlations, nor temporal
clustering or anticlustering beyond those arising from varying injection
rates. The interevent time statistics are characterized by a Poissonian
time-varying distribution. The calculated parameters indicate no
earthquake interaction. Focal mechanisms suggest that the injection
activated a spatially distributed network of similarly oriented
fractures. The seismicity passively responded to the hydraulic energy
input rate, with the cumulative seismic moment proportional to the
cumulative hydraulic energy and maximum magnitude controlled by
injection rate. The performed study provides a base for implementation
of time-dependent probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for the
project site.