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Analysis of institutional authors

Andres, SCorresponding AuthorSantillan, DAuthorMosquera, JcAuthorCueto-Felgueroso, LAuthor

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September 11, 2025
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Rupture directivity and poroelastic coupling in earthquakes induced by fluid injection

Publicated to: ENGINEERING FRACTURE MECHANICS. 322 111123- - 2025-06-12 322(), DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111123

Authors:

Andrés, S; Santillán, D; Mosquera, JC; Cueto-Felgueroso, L
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Civil Engn Hydraul Energy & Environm, Madrid 28040 - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Continuum Mech & Struct, Madrid 28040 - Author

Abstract

Earthquakes induced by the human-made injection or extraction of fluids have recently become a major concern in energy technologies. When frictional and hydromechanical conditions lead to fault reactivation, unstable slip can occur and rupture propagates across the fault with a pattern analogous to two crack tips, spreading away from the hypocenter. During the earthquake the rupture tips can propagate symmetrically or along a preferred direction. These propagation patterns are related with the effects of the earthquake, and are essential due to the predominance of almost-unilateral ruptures in large earthquakes catalogs. We study how poroelastic coupling controls the directivity of the rupture in earthquakes induced by pore pressure changes. The directivity patterns observed in earthquakes ruptures may be explained by a contrast in material properties across the fault as previous studies have shown. Here we show that rupture asymmetries may be also promoted by the pressure and stress changes induced by fluid injection prior to rupture, together with the undrained pressure response during coseismic slip. We employ fully coupled hydromechanical simulations of poroelastic media with rate-and-state faults, and analytical solutions to perform a dimensionless analysis. We observe that, depending on the flow conditions and the initial fault stress state, directivity patterns range from almost-symmetric to almost-unilateral. We explain the rupture directivity pattern in terms of the conditions of fault confinement and pore pressure diffusion, and identify two mechanisms that control the symmetry of the earthquake rupture. Firstly, the pore pressure distribution prior to earthquake, which depends on the distance between the injection well and the fault, controls the heterogeneity of fault strength along the fault. Secondly, the undrained effect due to coseismic fault slip, which is directly related to the initial confinement, causes an increase or decrease of pore pressure on either side of the fault. Our results contribute to understand the impact of poroelasticity on rupture directivity in injection-induced earthquakes and offer a feasible explanation of almost-unilateral rupture patterns.
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Keywords

ConditionCrack tipsDirectivity patternEarthquake effectsEarthquake ruptureFault slipFault slipsFluid injectionsInduced seismicityInjection (oil wells)Phase field modelPhysical analysisPore pressurePoro-elasticityPoroelasticPoroelasticityPressure changeRate-dependent frictionRupture directivityStabilityStateStick-slipStimulationStressUndrainedUndrained response

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal ENGINEERING FRACTURE MECHANICS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 20/171, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Mechanics.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-26:

  • WoS: 3
  • Scopus: 5
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-26:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 4 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/88947/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 152
  • Downloads: 126
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (ANDRES MARTINEZ, SANDRO) and Last Author (CUETO-FELGUEROSO LANDEIRA, LUIS).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been ANDRES MARTINEZ, SANDRO.

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