Fault “Corrosion” by Fluid Injection: A Potential Cause of the November 2017 5.5 Korean Earthquake

Figure 4

Conceptual block-diagram illustrating the complexity of a major fault, from Figure 1 of [88]. This diagram shows the main components of a fault zone (i.e., the fault core and damage zones) and structural elements and features in each component, for comparison with Figure 3. A transitional (or mixed) zone is depicted at the boundary between the impermeable fault core and permeable damage zones. Fracture development into such a fault zone by hydroshearing might interact with permeable elements, including fractures and secondary faults within the damage zone and shear zones within the transitional zones.