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HOw Predictable are Earthquakes

Project description

Improving earthquake forecasts

Earthquake prediction remains an active topic of natural science research. The EU-funded HOPE project aims to answer the key question of how predictable earthquakes are. At the heart of the project is the development of a new dedicated experimental device to generate multiple seismic cycles along a fault with prescribed complex geometry and rheology. With this device, the project will carry out a threefold experimental programme to calculate the complete energy balance of laboratory earthquakes, study the sensitivity of rupture nucleation, propagation and arrest to heterogeneities, and study the effect of heterogeneities on the relationship between seismic fault coupling and seismicity.

Objective

Earthquakes are spectacular natural disasters, as exemplified by the 2004 Sumatra and 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquakes. Predicting earthquakes remains one of the biggest societal challenges in natural science. This research project will attempt answering the following question: How predictable are earthquakes? We propose a multidisciplinary approach articulated around three main axes: (i) the deterministic predictability of earthquakes in simple, homogeneous faults, studied by reproducing and understanding earthquake phenomena in the laboratory, (ii) the deterministic predictability of earthquakes in complex, heterogeneous faults, studied by laboratory experiments producing multiple earthquake cycles on faults with controlled heterogeneities and (iii) the statistical predictability of earthquakes, studied by forecasting the spatial distribution of experimental seismicity using machine learning. At the core of this project lies the development of a new dedicated experimental setup to generate multiple earthquake cycles along a fault with prescribed complex geometry and rheology. With this new capability, we will conduct a threefold experimental program to: (i) compute the complete energy budget of laboratory earthquakes, (ii) study the sensitivity of rupture nucleation, propagation and arrest to heterogeneities, and (iii) study the effect of heterogeneities on the relation between fault seismic coupling and seismicity. Our work will provide insights for earthquake hazard mitigation, constrain the physics underlying ubiquitously observed seismological statistical laws (Omori, Gutenberg-Richter) and test seismic slip inversion and dynamic rupture modelling techniques in unprecedented data sets on rock fracture dynamics in experiments that mimic field conditions. The new infrastructure we plan to install will reproduce earthquake rupture processes with a spatio-temporal imaging resolution never achieved before.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2021-STG

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Host institution

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 498 856,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 498 856,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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