Minor earthquakes and tremors caused by human activity
Part of a series on
Earthquakes
Types
Mainshock
Foreshock
Aftershock
Blind thrust
Doublet
Interplate
Intraplate
Megathrust
Remotely triggered
Slow
Submarine
Supershear
Tsunami
Earthquake swarm
Causes
Fault movement
Volcanism
Induced seismicity
Characteristics
Epicenter
Epicentral distance
Hypocenter
Shadow zone
Seismic waves
P wave
S wave
Measurement
Seismometer
Seismic magnitude scales
Seismic intensity scales
Prediction
Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction
Forecasting
Other topics
Shear wave splitting
Adams–Williamson equation
Flinn–Engdahl regions
Earthquake engineering
Seismite
Seismology
Earth Sciences Portal
Category
Related topics
v
t
e
Induced seismicity is typically earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on Earth's crust. Most induced seismicity is of a low magnitude. A few sites regularly have larger quakes, such as The Geysers geothermal plant in California which averaged two M4 events and 15 M3 events every year from 2004 to 2009.[1] The Human-Induced Earthquake Database (HiQuake) documents all reported cases of induced seismicity proposed on scientific grounds and is the most complete compilation of its kind.[2][3]
Results of ongoing multi-year research on induced earthquakes by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) published in 2015 suggested that most of the significant earthquakes in Oklahoma, such as the 1952 magnitude 5.7 El Reno earthquake may have been induced by deep injection of wastewater by the oil industry. A huge number of seismic events in oil and gas extraction states like Oklahoma is caused by increasing the volume of wastewater injection that is generated as part of the extraction process.[4] "Earthquake rates have recently increased markedly in multiple areas of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), especially since 2010, and scientific studies have linked the majority of this increased activity to wastewater injection in deep disposal wells."[5][6][7][8][9][10]: 2 [11]
Induced seismicity can also be caused by the injection of carbon dioxide as the storage step of carbon capture and storage, which aims to sequester carbon dioxide captured from fossil fuel production or other sources in Earth's crust as a means of climate change mitigation. This effect has been observed in Oklahoma and Saskatchewan.[12] Though safe practices and existing technologies can be utilized to reduce the risk of induced seismicity due to injection of carbon dioxide, the risk is still significant if the storage is large in scale. The consequences of the induced seismicity could disrupt pre-existing faults in the Earth's crust as well as compromise the seal integrity of the storage locations.[13]
The seismic hazard from induced seismicity can be assessed using similar techniques as for natural seismicity, although accounting for non-stationary seismicity.[14][15] It appears that earthquake shaking from induced earthquakes may be similar to that observed in natural tectonic earthquakes,[16][17] or may have higher shaking at shorter distances.[18] This means that ground-motion models derived from recordings of natural earthquakes, which are often more numerous in strong-motion databases[19] than data from induced earthquakes, may be used with minor adjustments. Subsequently, a risk assessment can be performed, taking into account the increased seismic hazard and the vulnerability of the exposed elements at risk (e.g. local population and the building stock).[14][20] Finally, the risk can, theoretically at least, be mitigated, either through reductions to the hazard[21][22] or a reduction to the exposure or the vulnerability.[23]
^"Man-made geothermal earthquakes". Anderson Springs Community Alliance. 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
^D. Atoufi, Hossein; Lampert, David J. (2020). "Membrane Desalination to Prepare Produced Water for Reuse". World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020. Henderson, Nevada (Conference Cancelled): American Society of Civil Engineers: 8–15. doi:10.1061/9780784482988.002. ISBN 978-0-7844-8298-8. S2CID 219430591 – via American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
^Cite error: The named reference usgs_2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Weingarten, Matthew; Ge, Shemin; Godt, J.W.; Bekins, B.A.; Rubinstein, J.L. (2015). "High-rate injection is associated with the increase in U.S. mid-continent seismicity". Science. 348 (6241): 1336–1340. Bibcode:2015Sci...348.1336W. doi:10.1126/science.aab1345. PMID 26089509. S2CID 206637414.
^Petersen, Mark D.; Mueller, Charles S.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Hoover, Susan M.; Llenos, Andrea L.; Ellsworth, William L.; Michael, Andrew J.; Rubinstein, Justin L.; McGarr, Arthur F.; Rukstales, Kenneth S. (April 1, 2016). "2016 One-Year Seismic Hazard Forecast for the Central and Eastern United States from Induced and Natural Earthquakes" (PDF). Open-File Report (Report). Reston, Virginia. p. 58. doi:10.3133/ofr20161035. ISSN 2331-1258. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
^Keranen, Katie M.; Savage, Heather M.; Abers, Geoffrey A.; Cochran, Elizabeth S. (2013). "Potentially induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, USA: Links between wastewater injection and the 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake sequence". Geology. 41 (6): 699–702. Bibcode:2013Geo....41..699K. doi:10.1130/G34045.1. Retrieved April 28, 2016.via EBSCO
^Verdon, J.P. (2016). "Carbon capture and storage, geomechanics and induced seismicity activity". Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. 8 (6): 928935. Bibcode:2016JRMGE...8..928V. doi:10.1016/j.jrmge.2016.06.004.
^Zoback, M.D. (2012). "Earthquake triggering and large-scale geologic storage of carbon dioxide". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (26): 10164–8. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10910164Z. doi:10.1073/pnas.1202473109. PMC 3387039. PMID 22711814.
^ abGupta, Abhineet, and Jack W. Baker. “A Framework for Time-Varying Induced Seismicity Risk Assessment, with Application in Oklahoma.” Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 17, no. 8 (August 2019): 4475–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-019-00620-5.
^Bourne, S. J.; Oates, S. J.; Bommer, J. J.; Dost, B.; Elk, J. van; Doornhof, D. (2015). "A Monte Carlo Method for Probabilistic Hazard Assessment of Induced Seismicity due to Conventional Natural Gas Production". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 105 (3): 1721–1738. Bibcode:2015BuSSA.105.1721B. doi:10.1785/0120140302. hdl:10044/1/56262.
^Douglas, J.; Edwards, B.; Convertito, V.; Sharma, N.; Tramelli, A.; Kraaijpoel, D.; Cabrera, B. M.; Maercklin, N.; Troise, C. (2013). "Predicting Ground Motion from Induced Earthquakes in Geothermal Areas". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 103 (3): 1875–1897. Bibcode:2013BuSSA.103.1875D. doi:10.1785/0120120197.
^Atkinson, Gail M.; Assatourians, Karen (2017-03-01). "Are Ground-Motion Models Derived from Natural Events Applicable to the Estimation of Expected Motions for Induced Earthquakes?". Seismological Research Letters. 88 (2A): 430–441. Bibcode:2017SeiRL..88..430A. doi:10.1785/0220160153. ISSN 0895-0695.
^Gupta, Abhineet, Jack W. Baker, and William L. Ellsworth. “Assessing Ground‐Motion Amplitudes and Attenuation for Small‐to‐Moderate Induced and Tectonic Earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States.” Seismological Research Letters 88, no. 5 (June 28, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1785/0220160199.
^Akkar, S.; Sandıkkaya, M. A.; Şenyurt, M.; Sisi, A. Azari; Ay, B. Ö; Traversa, P.; Douglas, J.; Cotton, F.; Luzi, L. (2014-02-01). "Reference database for seismic ground-motion in Europe (RESORCE)" (PDF). Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering. 12 (1): 311–339. Bibcode:2014BuEE...12..311A. doi:10.1007/s10518-013-9506-8. ISSN 1570-761X. S2CID 17906356.
^Mignan, A.; Landtwing, D.; Kästli, P.; Mena, B.; Wiemer, S. (2015-01-01). "Induced seismicity risk analysis of the 2006 Basel, Switzerland, Enhanced Geothermal System project: Influence of uncertainties on risk mitigation". Geothermics. 53: 133–146. Bibcode:2015Geoth..53..133M. doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2014.05.007.
^Bommer, Julian J.; Oates, Stephen; Cepeda, José Mauricio; Lindholm, Conrad; Bird, Juliet; Torres, Rodolfo; Marroquín, Griselda; Rivas, José (2006-03-03). "Control of hazard due to seismicity induced by a hot fractured rock geothermal project". Engineering Geology. 83 (4): 287–306. Bibcode:2006EngGe..83..287B. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2005.11.002.
^Douglas, John; Aochi, Hideo (2014-08-01). "Using Estimated Risk to Develop Stimulation Strategies for Enhanced Geothermal Systems" (PDF). Pure and Applied Geophysics. 171 (8): 1847–1858. Bibcode:2014PApGe.171.1847D. doi:10.1007/s00024-013-0765-8. ISSN 0033-4553. S2CID 51988824.
^Bommer, Julian J.; Crowley, Helen; Pinho, Rui (2015-04-01). "A risk-mitigation approach to the management of induced seismicity". Journal of Seismology. 19 (2): 623–646. Bibcode:2015JSeis..19..623B. doi:10.1007/s10950-015-9478-z. ISSN 1383-4649. PMC 5270888. PMID 28190961.
and 27 Related for: Induced seismicity information
storage locations. The seismic hazard from inducedseismicity can be assessed using similar techniques as for natural seismicity, although accounting for...
increase, by fluid injection in Earth's crust, may induceseismicity. Tides may trigger some seismicity. Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related...
Seismicity in mines is common as removing mass amounts of rock can change stress dynamics, especially if pre-existing faults exist. This seismicity is...
resources in Canada, inducedseismicity caused by anthropological activities has been observed, documented, and studied. Induced events are generally...
movement of magma, the venting of volcanic gases from magma, or both. Inducedseismicity, typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human...
2024. Inducedseismicity is earth tremors caused by human activity. Seismicity is common in EGS, because of the high pressures involved. Seismicity events...
gas recovery does not pose a high risk for inducing felt seismic events. Kim, Won-Young 'Inducedseismicity associated with fluid injection into a deep...
than in those built under more recent legislation. Fracking causes inducedseismicity called microseismic events or microearthquakes. The magnitude of these...
Inducedseismicity in Basel led to suspension of its hot dry rock enhanced geothermal systems project. A seismic-hazard evaluation was then conducted,...
main types of elastic body waves, called seismic waves in seismology. P waves travel faster than other seismic waves and hence are the first signal from...
studying earthquake history (e.g. historical and instrumental catalogs of seismicity) and tectonics to assess the earthquakes that could occur in a region...
linked to dike induced stress and the interaction this causes between the magma, rock, and wall of the chamber. Volcano tectonic seismicity is an important...
Southern California Seismic Network uses this "magnitude" where the data fail the quality criteria. A special case is the Seismicity of the Earth catalog...
level of seismic progress. Typical applications are: great global earthquakes and tsunamis, aftershocks and inducedseismicity, inducedseismicity at gas...
A seismic wave is a mechanical wave of acoustic energy that travels through the Earth or another planetary body. It can result from an earthquake (or...
derivative with respect to time. Combining the last two equations one gets the seismic wave equation in homogeneous media ρ ∂ t 2 u i = λ ∂ i ∑ k ∂ k u k + μ...
California?". "EGS: The Geysers: What is the history of seismicity at The Geysers?". Inducedseismicity. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Earth Sciences...
Johnston, Arch C.; Halchuk, Stephen (June–July 1993), "The seismicity data base for the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program", Annali di Geofisica, 36 (3–4):...
data in lower magnitude range (≤ 7.0) which rarely represents the global seismicity (e.g., see Figs. 1A, B, 4 and Table 2 of Percaru and Berckhemer 1978)...
A.; Anderson, John G. (2015). Incorporating InducedSeismicity in the 2014 United States National Seismic Hazard Model—Results of 2014 Workshop and Sensitivity...
1811–1812. An aftershock sequence is deemed to have ended when the rate of seismicity drops back to a background level; i.e., no further decay in the number...
observed near the epicenter of the earthquake, categorized by various seismic intensity scales such as the Rossi-Forel scale. ("Size" is used in the...
are many, forming a seismic array. The emphasis is on precision since much can be learned about the fault mechanics and seismic hazard, if the locations...
A seismic shadow zone is an area of the Earth's surface where seismographs cannot detect direct P waves and/or S waves from an earthquake. This is due...
Seismic intensity scales categorize the intensity or severity of ground shaking (quaking) at a given location, such as resulting from an earthquake. They...
the reservoir may have caused inducedseismicity when being impounded. "History of Nurek Dams". Canadian InducedSeismicity Research Group. Retrieved 10...