Binbin Zhao

The coseismic geothermal changes of ground temperature observed at observatories near the epicenter of the 2020 Jiashi Ms = 6.4 earthquake in China, provide a unique opportunity to study heat generation and conduction in rock. Here, evolutions of rock temperature at the Xikeer, Jiashizongchang, and Gedaliang observatories, which are located at epicentral distances of 1.4, 27.42, and 50 km respectively, were analyzed. Significant coseismic geothermal changes of 0.0432 °C were observed at the Xikeer observatory at the depth of 33.38 m, at which clear diurnal variations can be observed. Smaller changes of ~0.0001 °C were observed at the depths of 12.3 and 22.8 m at the Xikeer observatory and 22.3 m at the Jiashizongchang observatory. The stress transfer induced by the coseismic rupture induced a rise in local ground temperature, but the magnitude of the change was relatively small. The larger amplitude change at the Xikeer observatory was caused by fluid infiltration. We note that diurnal variation has been recorded at the Gedaliang observatory, but the coseismic response is no longer in existence. The temperature increases at the hypocentral area were higher than expected in the ground due to the coseismic stress transfer, but the change attenuated rapidly with distance.