Tomographic imaging of high seismic activities in underground island longwall face

Anomalous information identification is a key issue for seismic hazard prevention in underground mining. Velocity tomograms can image the stress redistribution around coal face and provide better understanding of strata failure mechanisms. In this paper, based on microseismic events recorded during mining operation, passive tomographic imagings have been presented to assess strong tremor hazard and locate high seismic activity zones around an island coal face under super-thick strata. The zones of high velocity or velocity gradient anomalies have been found to correlate well with the distribution of strong tremors, indicating that velocity tomography is feasible for seismic hazard assessment and risk region division in underground mining.