High-resolution nodal seismic catalogs for improved subsurface interpretation in the Peace River region, Northwestern Alberta

Seismic nodal arrays are increasingly used in local-scale seismic studies due to their rapid deployment, cost-effectiveness, and ability to provide high resolution event locations that enhance the characterization of seismic clusters. The Reno seismic nodal array was rapidly deployed following the November 29, 2022 seismic event with a local magnitude (ML) of 5.59 in the Reno area, Peace River region, to record the associated aftershock sequence. 

This dataset, previously analyzed in earlier studies, offers valuable insight into event distributions and source characteristics. In this work, we reprocess the same dataset across three deployment rounds and detect nearly 3,300 seismic events, including more than 2,200 events from the first round, 150 events from the second round, and nearly 900 from the third round. The resulting high resolution locations show that most events occur between 2 and 6 km below the ground surface, indicating seismicity primarily within the Precambrian basement. Two main seismic sub-clusters are identified in the vicinity of two disposal wells, demonstrating the improved local resolution provided by the nodal array, which is critical for assessing potential induced seismicity. The rapid response deployment enhanced detection of smaller-magnitude events, improved local data quality, and enabled more reliable magnitude estimates. This resulted in a more complete seismic catalog, better-resolved event locations, and improved characterization of seismicity. 

Overall, the enhanced dataset contributes to a better understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution of seismicity in the region and its induced origin related to disposal activities in the Leduc Formation.