ActiveSW temporary experiment on mud volcanoes in SW Taiwan to detect and characterize degassing events, Taiwan (RESIF-SISMOB)

A seismic sensor has been installed about 3 m from an active mud volcano. This mud volcano has a diameter of about one meter. It is filled with liquid mud up to a depth of about 3 m. It has « eruptions » (bubbling phases) occurring more or less regularly in time, with an average inter-eruption time of about 20s. This place is also located very close to an active fault. This seismometer therefore also detects frequent earthquakes. This experiment was part of a broader project that aims at better understanding the deformation mechanisms in SW Taiwan that accommodate tectonic stress in the crust and control seismic hazard and the growth of long-term geological structures and topography. SW Taiwan undergoes high strain rates (>1 μstrain/yr) associated with a very low level of seismicity.