Very-Near-Field Coseismic Fault Pressure Drop and Delayed Postseismic Cross-Fault Flow Induced by Fault Damage From the 2018 M6.3 Hualien, Taiwan Earthquake

Abstract

Earthquakes can produce rock damage, poroelastic deformation, and ground shaking that modify fault zone hydrogeologic properties. Coseismic and postseismic hydrologic response to the ruptured fault can serve as constraints on hydrogeologic property changes. Here, we document fluid pressure responses to the 2018 M6.3 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake and model the postseismic fault zone hydrology inferred from very-near-fault data. Two groundwater wells located ∼180–250 m from the fault damage zone experienced 10–15 m of groundwater level decline followed by a prolonged (>6 months) recovery. Poroelastic models indicate that strain dilation in the fault's hanging wall can produce water level reductions of several meters. However, the model cannot explain groundwater level change in the footwall nor the delayed postseismic recovery, suggesting fault zone damage played a primary role in both the coseismic and postseismic water level reductions. Fluid flow models incorporating the effects of coseismic fault damage on the temporal evolution of hydrologic fault properties show enhanced hydraulic anisotropy after the earthquake. The best-fit models show that while both vertical hydraulic conductivity and specific storage likely increased within the fault zone, the horizontal hydraulic conductivity is low, suggesting the fault zone behaves as a hydraulic barrier to cross-fault flow with modeled diffusivities as low as ∼10⁻³ m²/s. High-fidelity hydrologic measurements in the very-near-field of fault zones (e.g., within a few hundred meters) may be a useful tool to constrain the spatial and temporal evolution of fault zone properties before, during, and after rupture.