Rock Mechanics and Earthquake Physics Lab
We use BRAVA 2 and BIG BIAX to study the physical properties of rocks and tectonic faults, i.e. the structures where earthquakes occur. We also generate laboratory earthquakes in a highly monitored environment to capture precursory signals and train machine learning algorithms.
Earthquakes in the lab
During laboratory seismic cycles we use piezoelectric transducers, PZT, to measure different types of earthquakes (passive seismic) or to study the evolution of fault physical properties via ultrasonic investigations (active seismic).
Precursors signals in the lab
Using active seismic, we observed a reduction in body wave velocity across the experimental fault. This represents a reliable precursory signal (Scuderi et al., Nature Geosc. 2016).
Laboratory earthquakes prediction
We used passive seismic to train machine learning algorithms that are used for predicting shear stress evolution and time to failure, i.e. earthquake occurrence along the experimental fault (Laurenti et al., EPSL 2022).
Unconventional aspects of our research deal with geo-energies (induced seismicity, CO2 storage, geothermal energy).