Mechanisms, monitoring, prevention and control of deep coal mining-induced seismicity: Study of typical cases in China

Abstract

Mining-induced seismicity is a distinct category of anthropogenic earthquakes, with their incidence increasing with mining depth. This study is grounded in mining-induced seismic data and technical solutions from typical mines in China. Mining-induced seismicity is defined as all detectable surface seismic motions within mining areas due to deep mining. This study first delves into the mechanisms of overburden breaking-type and fault slip-type mining-induced seismicity. The driving force is regional stress redistribution and concentration in the overlying strata. An integrated underground-surface monitoring network based on 4G/5G and GPS synchronisation is presented. The system’s data volume increased by 55.65%, and its validity increased by 198.29%. A hybrid algorithm integrating genetic algorithms with the Powell algorithm is developed to address challenges in source localisation. An evaluation model for monitoring efficiency is established, based on the Improved Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II. The evaluation of prevention technologies indicates that deep-hole blasting achieves significant efficacy by "replacing one major event with multiple minor events”. Overburden separation grouting has limited impact on energy release, and hydraulic fracturing remains inconsistent due to uncontrollable flow behaviour. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of mining-induced seismicity, thus providing valuable references in the field of coal mine dynamic disasters.

Keywords

Mining-induced seismicity / Seismic mechanism / Underground-surface microseismic monitoring / Prevention and control technology

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