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Rupture directivity analysis data of hydraulic fracturing-induced seismic events in a shale gas field near Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada

Publisher
British Geological Survey (BGS)
Updated
28 August 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

This data repository contains the raw waveforms of seven hydraulic fracturing-induced seismic events, together with their rupture directivity analysis. The entire data is consolidated in one .mat file per seismic event (which can be read with Matlab and Octave). A detailed description of the .mat files, and a Matlab script to import and visualise the seismic data and rupture directivity analysis of each event, is also included in this repository. The passive seismic dataset was collected in a shale gas field near Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada, during a multi-stage hydraulic fracturing stimulation that induced shallow earthquakes (less than 5 km deep) of magnitudes up to 3.2. This area has experienced in recent years multiple cases on induced seismicity associated with oil and gas operations, including hydraulic fracturing and wastewater disposal, of magnitudes above 4.0 in some cases. The full passive seismic dataset was collected between October and November 2016 and made open source through a GitHub repository (https://github.com/ToC2ME). To determine the rupture directivity of each induced seismic event, we use the Empirical Green's Functions (EGF) method to first obtain apparent source time functions (ASTF), and then measure the rupture time at each seismic station. We then invert the rupture directivity of each seismic event based on the azimuthal variation of the measured rupture times at each seismic station. Observations of rupture directivity (the direction of propagation of the earthquake rupture) can provide important information as to the nature of the interactions between injection-induced pressure increases and earthquake nucleation. Measurement of rupture directivity could therefore have important implications for induced seismicity hazard management. The rupture directivity analysis of these hydraulic fracturing-induced seismic events was led and coordinated by Dr. James Verdon and Dr. Germán Rodríguez at the School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol.

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
Citation Information - Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 28/8/2026
Data 28/8/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
26 August 2026
Harvest GUID
49eaf0b9-d8b0-e5ea-e063-3050940a3c9f
Extent (Latitude)
54.3800° to 54.3100°
Extent (Longitude)
-117.2900° to -117.1800°
Dataset reference date (creation)
2026-01-29
Frequency of update
notApplicable
Access constraints
The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.
Responsible party
University of Bristol (originator); NORSAR (originator); British Geological Survey (distributor, pointOfContact)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng

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