Influence of Brazilian structures on the reservoir induced seismicity case of Irapé Hydroelectric Plant, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Inaugurated in 2006, the Irapé Hydroelectric Plant has the highest dam in Brazil, with 210 m. The Seismological Observatory of the University of Brasilia is monitoring this structure since the beginning of its reservoir filling. The reservoir triggered seismicity caused by the increase of crustal tension just after the start of the remains like an important object of study for understanding this phenomenon. This paper aims at studying the seismicity recorded from January to May 2006, as well as to characterize the geology around the Hydroelectric Plant Irapé in order to identify and describe the structures that help for better understanding the seismic events. The spatial orientation of the seismic events obtained by analyzing polarity and waveform is consistent with the guidance of prominent relief lineaments. These faults can be found attached to a larger structure with main NE/SW direction and tens of kilometers, which would be responsible for capturing Jequitinhonha and Araçuaí rivers. This great lineament is interpreted herein as a structure related to a late stage of the Brasiliano-Panafrican event. The solution of focal mechanism, created using an inversion method of the waveform in the time domain, indicates that the direction of the possible plans are correlated to main failure of brittle structures targeting the area of work.

seismic reactivation of geological structures; studies on reservoir triggered seismicity; Irapé Hydroelectric Plant