A zoning model for coal mining - induced strata movement based on microseismic monitoring

A microseismic monitoring technique is adopted to investigate the distribution regularity of microseismic events released by the coal mining - induced roof rock mass along the vertical and horizontal directions in combination with mine geological data. On the basis of the quantity and energy distributions of the microseismic events recorded using the microseismic monitoring technique, a zoning method is first established for the roof strata movement in the vertical and horizontal directions. The vertically zoning method is then applied to analyze the microseismic monitoring results obtained in the Dongjiahe Coal Mine, which divides rock mass into six zones along the vertical direction, i.e. the caved zone, the block zone, the vertical fracture through-going zone, the vertical fracture zone, the separation zone and the continuous zone. The horizontally zoning model divides the roof strata movement into three zones, i.e. the calm zone, the generation zone impacted by working face and the historical generation zone. After that, based on the horizontally zoning model, a method is developed to determine the displacement angle using the microseismic monitoring data, which has been verified in the Dongjiahe Coal Mine. •A zoning method is established for mining – induced roof strata movement.•The zoning method is applied to study the roof strata movement along the vertical direction in Dongjiahe Coal Mine.•A method is developed to determine the displacement angle according to the monitored microseismic data.•The method is verified against field observations in the Dongjiahe Coal Mine.