Induced seismicity at the Laúca reservoir, Angola Craton: Focal mechanisms and implications for the stress field in Western Central Africa

Abstract

We present the first case of reservoir induced seismicity (RIS) ever reported in the Angola Craton, Laúca reservoir. Impoundment of the reservoir began in late 2017 and seismicity started in March 2018 shortly after the water level reached 86 m. Earthquakes continued to be recorded in the following years, with 287 events detected between March/2018 and April/2024. The largest event had magnitude 3.0 ML. The dam is 156 m tall, and the total reservoir volume is 5,044.85 Hm³. The reservoir area is monitored by two stations, LAUC and ZERO. Seismic data is of high quality, with sharp P- and S-wave arrivals at both stations. We derive a half-space velocity model for the lake area using a composite Wadati diagram and minimization of travel time residuals and locate 90 events with arrivals at both stations. S-to-P converted phases at the surface were used to help constrain hypocentral depths and epicentral locations. We use waveform modeling to determine focal mechanisms for ten events using the program FMNEAR, and invert for the local stress field. We find the faulting regime in the area to be strike-slip and SH_Max oriented roughly NE-SW. We compare our results to the broader stress field in western Central Africa and find them to be in agreement with nearby stress determinations from focal mechanisms in the Congo Basin. Our results make an important contribution to the state of knowledge of the stress field in western Central Africa, which can be taken into consideration in future geodynamic models of the Nubian plate as more data is gathered and help further our understanding of stress sources in this region.