Assessment of the Seismic Impact of Industrial Explosions in the Central Part of the East European Platform

Abstract

The attenuation coefficients of longitudinal and shear waves propagating in the Earth’s upper crust below the central region of the East European Platform have been determined using seismic observations along a profile from the Novogurovskii limestone quarry to the Mikhnevo small-aperture seismic array. Assuming that dissipative properties of the Earth’s crust are invariable, we drew a contour map characterizing the propagation of seismic energy generated by open pit mine blasting in the central part of the East European Platform; the map reflects both historical and recent earthquakes as well. The distribution of seismic impacts of industrial explosions is compared with the distribution of zones of tectonic dislocations revealed by lineament analysis. The map also contains estimates of the intensity of open pit blasting in 2013–2017.