Numerical simulation of seismic activity by the grid-characteristic method

Seismic activity in homogeneous and layered enclosing rock masses is studied. A numerical mechanical-mathematical model of a hypocenter is proposed that describes the whole range of elastic perturbations propagating from the hypocenter. Synthetic beachball plots computed for various fault plane orientations are compared with the analytical solution in the case of homogeneous rock. A detailed analysis of wave patterns and synthetic seismograms is performed to compare seismic activities in homogeneous and layered enclosing rock masses. The influence exerted by individual components of a seismic perturbation on the stability of quarry walls is analyzed. The grid-characteristic method is used on three-dimensional parallelepipedal and curvilinear structured grids with boundary conditions set on the boundaries of the integration domain and with well-defined contact conditions specified in explicit form.