Abstract: During the process of earthquake and rock fracturing, the fracture mechanisms, source parameters and rupture energy can be obtained by moment tensor inversion. In this paper, the moment tensor theory and its inversion method are introduced in detail; and then a comparison of merits and demerits about three major inversion methods, namely the absolute moment tensor, the relative moment tensor and the hybrid moment tensor is conducted. On the basis of detailed classification and summary of the domestic and foreign references, the application status of moment tensor is reviewed in the fields of hydraulic fracturing, mining and deep tunnel, etc., and combining with its application example in analysis of the focal mechanisms of Hamm Heringen region microseismic events. The results show that the focal mechanisms solution and seismic parameters can be achieved by moment tensor inversion, which played a vital role in the fields of disaster warning and prevention of rock engineering, monitoring and control of hydraulic fracturing, etc. Finally, the factors which influence the accuracy of moment tensor inversion and the insufficient factors including the low precision of microseismic events location and difficult of waveform identification and processing when it is applied to rock engineering fields are analyzed. Meanwhile, the application prospect in the rock engineering field about mining, petroleum engineering, etc., the improvement, as well as the problems need further study are discussed, so as to provide an important reference for applications of moment tensor inversion method.

Key words: moment tensor inversion, microseismicity, acoustic emission, focal mechanisms, error analysis