资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Earthquakes can change permeability. Continuous monitoring of the response of water level to solid Earth tides or changes in barometric pressure provides an opportunity to document how earthquakes influence permeability. Here we document spatial variations in changes in a fault zone in SW China. The response of the water level to barometric pressure and the Earth tide in four observation wells was used to calculate the relative changes in permeability at different locations on the fault before and after the Xingwen M5.7 earthquake. The results revealed that the earthquake resulted in a spatial heterogeneity in permeability changes along the Huarongshan fault. Moreover, permeability changes in the horizontal and vertical directions differed from one another at the same well location; that is, there was anisotropy at each location. These findings will help to enhance the understanding of earthquake-induced changes of permeable fault structure and fault segment deformation.