Dynamic triggering of mud volcanos in Azerbaijan by Caspian earthquakes

There are several viewpoints about the relationship of mud volcano eruptions with earthquakes, or earthquake occurrences with mud volcano eruptions. This paper demonstrates evaluation of dynamic strains triggered by Caspian earthquakes which occurred on the 25th of November, 2000, south of Baku city with Mw 6.1 and 6.2. Consequently, we researched the relationship between seismic regime and mud volcano eruptions in Azerbaijan located in Shamakhi-Gobustan-Absheron. We investigated over 30 mud volcanoes with over 100 km distance from near epicentres of Caspian earthquakes in terms of time within five years before and after Caspian earthquakes in 2000. As a result of computation, dynamic strain demonstrates that all the volcanoes in the study area are affected mostly by Caspian earthquake-induced transient strain. A larger number of mud eruptions occurred at a distance greater than 50-60 km from the 2000 Caspian epicentres. Mud volcanoes were erupted within 2-3 years at the range of 40 and 110 km from the epicentres. After three years from earthquake occurrence in Caspian Sea, mud volcanoes were erupted at the distance more than 70 km. The largest number of eruptions occurred within two years from the earthquakes, in particular the highest frequency is within six months. In particular, several eruptions occurred within 8 months from the shock, after this period the number of eruption for months is more scattered and discontinuous The comparison made us conclude that dynamic stresses are predominantly interlinked with triggering demonstrating higher magnitude, and consequently eruptions are favored up to 1-2 years following the earthquakes.