Preventing earthquake instabilities and inducing controlled, slow-slip by active fluid pressure control in the vicinity of a single seismic fault

We propose a theory for preventing instabilities in frictionally unstable systems such as earthquakes are. We exploit the dependence of friction on fluid pressure and use it as a backdoor for provoking controlled, slow-slip over a single mature seismic fault. We use the mathematical Theory of Control and notions from passivity in order to (a) stabilize and restricting chaos, (b) impose slow frictional dissipation and (c) tune the system toward desirable global asymptotic equilibria of lower energy. Our control approach is robust and does not require exact knowledge of the frictional behavior of the system and its fluid diffusion properties (e.g. permeability, viscosity, compressibility) or of other parameters related to complex physical processes that are hard to determine in practice. We expect our methodology to inspire earthquake mitigation strategies regarding anthropogenic and/or natural seismicity.

References

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