Wastewater Injection on EARTH Magazine

Injection experiment offers new view of fluid-filled faults

Wed, 02 Sep 2015 11:52:36 -0400

Researchers deployed a new sensor to study the influence of fluid injection on a fault from a tunnel that is part of an underground research facility in southeastern France. Credit: Yves Guglielmi.

Scientists have known since the late 1960s that injecting fluids underground can cause earthquakes if those fluids find their way into slip-prone fault zones. Evidence of fluid-induced quakes has continued mounting in recent years with observations of abnormally high levels of seismicity in the central U.S., coincident with increased injections of wastewater into the ground — mostly related to oil- and gas-mining operations. But understanding the inner workings of fluid-filled faults is challenging because researchers have been limited by how close they can get to study them. Now, a new study is offering a glimpse into the future of induced-seismicity studies by monitoring fault motions on the spot and in real time.

Managing the seismic risk posed by wastewater disposal

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:34:06 -0400

Shale gas and tight oil are produced in the Bakken Formation in North Dakota. Statoil

From an earthquake perspective, 2011 was a remarkable year. While the devastation accompanying the magnitude-9.0 Tohoku earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan on March 11 still captures attention worldwide, the relatively stable interior of the U.S. was struck by a somewhat surprising number of small-to-moderate earthquakes that were widely felt. Most of these were natural events, the types of earthquakes that occur from time to time in all intraplate regions. For example, the magnitude 5.8 that occurred in central Virginia on Aug. 23 was felt throughout the northeast, damaged the Washington Monument, and caused the temporary shutdown of a nuclear power plant. This earthquake occurred in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone, an area known to produce relatively frequent small earthquakes.