Amplified Ground Shaking Triggered by Subterranean Gas Expansion: Unveiling a New Geohazard Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Amplified Ground Shaking Triggered by Subterranean Gas Expansion: Unveiling a New Geohazard Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Amplified Ground Shaking Triggered by Subterranean Gas Expansion: Unveiling a New Geohazard Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake Yuji Enomoto This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7238725/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract On January 1, 2024, a major fire broke out in Wajima City approximately one hour after the M7.6 Noto Peninsula earthquake. Our previous study¹ suggested that the fire may have been triggered by the spontaneous ignition of methane gas released from underground alluvial deposits. To clarify the process that led to the fire, the present analysis focuses on an unusually amplified seismic shaking observed in Wajima just before the fire, which may have initiated the gas release. Although this shaking originated from a relatively small M3.5 earthquake located 28 km southwest of the city, it exhibited anomalous amplification and atypical waveforms that were localized to Wajima. This phenomenon is interpreted as a manifestation of the time-lagged “seismic champagne effect”, wherein gas bubbles dissolved in groundwater rapidly expand and erupt explosively in response to seismic waves. Subsequent observations—including shallow seismic events, gas emissions from the seafloor, and uplifted manholes—further suggest ongoing subsurface gas activity. These findings indicate that the time-lagged champagne effect may represent a previously unrecognized geohazard capable of inducing fires, liquefaction, and infrastructure damage. Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementallyInformation.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7238725","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504354124,"identity":"e4d276d0-c253-400e-a4ef-8bb4b83c7208","order_by":0,"name":"Yuji Enomoto","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADOQYJxgYGIIICHkIaEhiMSdeS2CABpBFa8AB+6eajGz7+sEmfP7u57eHPHYcZDA4wP/zAIHMHpxbJOcfSbs5ISMvdcOdguzHvGZAWNmMJBp5nOLUY3Mgxu82TcDh3g0RimzRj2+H6DQcYzIB+OYxTiz1US7r8jMQ2yZ9tIFvYv+HVYiAB0ZLAcCOxTYIXrIUHvy0SN9KAfklLM9wA1CLN25bOIHmYp1giAY9f+GckH7vxwcZGXn5G+jOgw6wZ+I63b/zwsQd3iGEBzECc2HOAFC1g8IN0LaNgFIyCUTBsAQAGSVb2B2pFZQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Shinshu University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuji","middleName":"","lastName":"Enomoto","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-29 04:08:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7238725/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7238725/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90739247,"identity":"b6152123-f32f-496d-9adc-551fdaa4404d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-07 02:01:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1032176,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AmplifiedGroundShakingTriggeredbySubterraneanGasExpansiondoublespace.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7238725/v1_covered_214dbc07-e99c-424d-a2cc-610c62026463.pdf"},{"id":89822783,"identity":"a4afd1fe-d72e-434f-a288-65b426de8244","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-25 11:54:38","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":27587519,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementallyInformation.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7238725/v1/fe2ce41ca9e5fa4e60161eb9.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Amplified Ground Shaking Triggered by Subterranean Gas Expansion: Unveiling a New Geohazard Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7238725/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7238725/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eOn January 1, 2024, a major fire broke out in Wajima City approximately one hour after the M7.6 Noto Peninsula earthquake. Our previous study¹ suggested that the fire may have been triggered by the spontaneous ignition of methane gas released from underground alluvial deposits. To clarify the process that led to the fire, the present analysis focuses on an unusually amplified seismic shaking observed in Wajima just before the fire, which may have initiated the gas release. Although this shaking originated from a relatively small M3.5 earthquake located 28 km southwest of the city, it exhibited anomalous amplification and atypical waveforms that were localized to Wajima. This phenomenon is interpreted as a manifestation of the \u003cstrong\u003etime-lagged “seismic champagne effect”,\u003c/strong\u003ewherein gas bubbles dissolved in groundwater rapidly expand and erupt explosively in response to seismic waves. Subsequent observations—including shallow seismic events, gas emissions from the seafloor, and uplifted manholes—further suggest ongoing subsurface gas activity. These findings indicate that the time-lagged champagne effect may represent a previously unrecognized geohazard capable of inducing fires, liquefaction, and infrastructure damage.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Amplified Ground Shaking Triggered by Subterranean Gas Expansion: Unveiling a New Geohazard Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-25 11:54:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7238725/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"8cd8db2c-5811-42fd-808f-94f7ad7719c6","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 25th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":53587649,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards"},{"id":53587650,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-07T01:53:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-25 11:54:32","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7238725","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7238725","identity":"rs-7238725","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}