The Relationship Between Moderate Earthquakes and Ayazakhtarma Mud Volcano Using the InSAR Technique in Azerbaijan

In this research, the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) method is used to evaluate the connection between earthquakes and volcano dynamics in Azerbaijan. InSAR provides a robust technique for defining the complexity of earthquakes in spatial dimensions and provides more precise information about the effects of earthquakes than traditional methods. We assessed pre-, co-, and post-seismic scenarios to find the possible triggering relationships between moderate earthquakes and the Ayazakhtarma mud volcano. The Ayazakhtarma volcano is located 46 km from the 2021 Shamakhi and 67 km from the 2019 Basqal earthquakes, respectively. In this study, comprehensive deformation time series and velocities for the volcano using Sentinel 1A/B data between 2014 and 2022 were produced from LiCSAR products using LiCSBAS. At the same time, a radar line-of-sight (LOS) displacement map was generated based on results from the GMT5SAR for pre-, co-, and post-seismic deformation of earthquakes. Based on our observations of the following earthquakes, our results show that moderate earthquakes (Mw≤5) cannot trigger large mud volcano eruptions. In particular, the study of the Ayazakhtarma mud volcano revealed significant LOS changes that were positive and negative in the western half and eastern half of the site, respectively. Our research helps us comprehend how earthquakes impact eruptive processes. In two different situations, the interferograms enable the detection of ground displacement associated with mud volcano activity. At the Ayazakhtarma, faults also play a fairly important role in the deformation pattern. Interestingly, the observed fault system primarily exists in the region that divides sectors with various rates of subsidence. The interferometric data have been studied, providing new information on the deformation patterns of the Ayazakhtarma mud volcano.