Earthquakes Triggered by Dams

Sichuan earthquake damages building, 14 May 2008

Miniwiki

Earthquakes can be induced by dams. Globally, there are over 100 identified cases of
earthquakes that scientists believe were triggered by reservoirs (seeGupta 2002). The
most serious case may be the 7.9-magnitude Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, which
killed an estimated 80,000 people and has been linked to the construction of
the Zipingpu Dam.
How Do Dams Trigger Earthquakes?
In a paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams, Dr. V. P Jauhari wrote the
following about this phenomenon, known as Reservoir-Induced Seismicity (RIS): "The
most widely accepted explanation of how dams cause earthquakes is related to the extra
water pressure created in the micro-cracks and fissures in the ground under and near a
reservoir. When the pressure of the water in the rocks increases, it acts to lubricate faults
which are already under tectonic strain, but are prevented from slipping by the friction of
the rock surfaces."
Given that every dam site has unique geological characteristics, it is not possible to
accurately predict when and where earthquakes will occur. However, the International
Commission on Large Dams recommends that RIS should be considered for reservoirs
deeper than 100 meters.
What Are Some Characteristics of RIS?
A leading scholar on this topic, Harsh K. Gupta, summarized his findings on RIS
worldwide in 2002:

Depth of the reservoir is the most important factor, but the volume of water also
plays a significant role in triggering earthquakes.
RIS can be immediately noticed during filling periods of reservoirs.
RIS can happen immediately after the filling of a reservoir or after a certain time
lag.

Many dams are being built in seismically active regions, including the Himalayas,
Southwest China, Iran, Turkey, and Chile (see map). International Rivers calls for a
moratorium on the construction of high dams in earthquake-prone areas.
http://www.internationalrivers.org/earthquakes-triggered-by-dams

A Faultline Runs Through It: Exposing the Hidden Dangers of Dam-Induced Earthquakes
Date:
Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Besides posing a major risk to dams, scientists are increasingly certain that earthquakes
can be triggered by the dams themselves. Globally, scientists believe that there are over
100 instances, strewn over six continents, of dam reservoirs inducing earthquakes. The
most serious case could be the magnitude-7.9 Sichuan earthquake in China in May
2008, which some experts believe may have been induced by the Zipingpu Dam.
Download the factsheet for more information on Reservoir-Induced Seismicity, including
key case studies of potential RIS sites, quotes from leading seismologists, and a list of
major RIS cases and hotspots worldwide.

8888

How Oil and Gas Disposal

Wells Can Cause Earthquakes

View All Topics

BACKGROUND

PHOTO BY KUT NEWS

This rig uses hydraulic fracturing to obtain gas from Texas' Barnett Shale formation. Photo courtesy
of KUT News.

Does Fracking Cause Earthquakes?

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, (a drilling process that injects
millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into a
well, cracking the rock and to release natural gas and oil) has only been
known to rarely cause earthquakes.
But the disposal of drilling wastewater used in fracking has now been
scientifically linked to earthquakes. The fluids used in fracking (and the
wastewater that comes back up the well) is disposed of by injecting it into
disposal wells deep underground. This is generally regarded as the safest,
most cost-efficient way to get rid of it. But in some parts of the country,
especially in the Barnett Shale area around Dallas-Fort Worth, it has also
been causing earthquakes. And theyre growing both in number
and strength.

How Fracking Disposal Wells Can Cause Earthquakes

The culprit of earthquakes near fracking sites is not believed to be the act
of drilling and fracturing the shale itself, but rather the disposal wells.

Disposal wells are the final resting place for used drilling fluid. These
waste wells are located thousands of feet underground, encased in
layers of concrete. They usually store the waste from several different
wells.There are more than 50,000 disposal wells in Texas servicing more
than 216,000 active drilling wells, according the the Railroad
Commission. Each well uses about 4.5 million gallons of chemical-laced
water, according to hydrolicfracturing.com.
The model I use is called the air hockey table model, says Cliff Frohlich,
a research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of
Texas at Austin. You have an air hockey table, suppose you tilt it, if
theres no air on, the puck will just sit there. Gravity wants it to move but
it doesnt because there friction [with the table surface].
But if you turn the air on for the air hockey table, the puck slips.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/earthquake/
8888
U.S. Maps Pinpoint Earthquakes Linked to Quest for Oil and Gas

By RICHARD PREZ-PEAAPRIL 23, 2015

Photo

Sparks, Okla., in 2011. A report says Oklahoma has been hardest hit by human-caused
quakes.CreditSue Ogrocki/Associated Press
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The United States Geological Survey on Thursday released its first

comprehensive assessment of the link between thousands of
earthquakes and oil and gas operations, identifying and mapping
17 regions where quakes have occurred.
The report was the agencys broadest statement yet on a danger
that has grown along with the nations energy production.
By far the hardest-hit state, the report said, is Oklahoma, where
earthquakes are hundreds of times more common than they were
until a few years ago because of the disposal of wastewater left
over from extracting fuels and from drilling wells by injecting
water into the earth. But the report also mapped parts of eight
other states, from Lake Erie to the Rocky Mountains, where that
practice has caused quakes, and said most of them were at risk for
more significant shaking in the future.
Oklahoma used to experience one or two earthquakes per year of
magnitude 3 or greater, and now theyre experiencing one or two
a day, Mark Petersen, the chief author of the report, said.
Oklahoma now has more earthquakes of that magnitude than
California.
The report came two days after Oklahomas state
governmentacknowledged for the first time the scientific
consensus that wastewater disposal linked to oil and gas drilling
was to blame for the huge surge in earthquakes there. The state
introduced an interactive map showing quake locations and
places where wastewater is injected into the ground, and the
state-run Oklahoma Geological Survey said it considers it very
likely that the practice is causing most of the shaking.
Hydraulic fracturing, a drilling technique that injects a highpressure mix of water and chemicals into the ground to break
rock formations and release gas, has drawn widespread attention.
But injecting water to dispose of waste from drilling or production
is a far greater contributor to earthquakes. The federal report

excluded human activity, like mining, that can cause quakes but
does not involve large-scale fluid injection.
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Earthquakes Caused by Human Activity

The maps below show where there has been seismic activity, caused mostly by oil and
gas operations. Northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas have been especially hard
hit, with an exponential growth in the number of human-caused earthquakes.

1957 to 2012
2013
2014
OHIO
OHIO
COLO.
COLO.
COLO.
KAN.
KAN.
OKLA.
OKLA.
OKLA.
N.M.
N.M.
N.M.
ARK.
ALA.
TEX.
TEX.

TEX.

Source: United States Geological Survey

Continue reading the main story

RELATED COVERAGE

Oklahoma Recognizes Role of Drilling in Earthquakes APRIL 21,

2015

As Quakes Rattle Oklahoma, Fingers Point to Oil and Gas

IndustryAPRIL 3, 2015

In one of the 17 areas identified in the report, around Colorados

Rocky Mountain Arsenal, injections of chemical waste set off
earthquakes starting in the 1960s. But the vast majority of the
quakes since then have involved oil and gas production.
Many scientific reports, published over decades, have said that
pumping fluids into the ground at high pressure can set off
earthquakes. But until fairly recently, energy companies and
regulators in some energy-producing states insisted that the link
was still in doubt.
Most affected states have now acknowledged it, but Oklahoma
had not until the recent statements by officials there. Still, state
regulators around the country have not gone as far in controlling
industry practices as environmental groups have asked, and there
is little sign that the new federal findings will goad them to go
farther.
Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation
Commission, the states top regulatory body for oil and gas
exploration, said Oklahoma already required a seismicity review

for proposed wells. Any tool we can use in response to triggered

seismicity, he said of the new report, would be important to us.
Continue reading the main story

Asked about the report, Lawrence E. Bengal, director of the

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, also pointed to what his state
had already done, after a surge in earthquakes north of Little
Rock in 2010 that made the state second only to Oklahoma in
induced quakes.
The commission imposed a moratorium prohibiting the drilling
of any new disposal wells in the area where the earthquake
activity had occurred, Mr. Bengal said, ordered the four active
wells in the area plugged and ruled that seismic activity must be
taken into account when allowing new disposal wells in other
parts of the state.
Photo

Tanks hold contaminated water in Texas from hydraulic fracking, a practice believed to have
contributed to elevated rates of earthquakes. CreditJerod Foster for The Texas Tribune

Last year, the Railroad Commission of Texas and the oil and gas
industry there agreed to new rules allowing the commission to
shut down old wells and deny permission for new ones based on
earthquake risks.
The issue has serious political, economic and environmental
implications, particularly in the nations midsection, where
energy production and related jobs have soared.

Zachary Cikanek, a spokesman for the American Petroleum

Institute, said that from an environmental standpoint,
underground disposal wells remain one of the best options
available. He noted that the Environmental Protection Agency has
released new guidelines to help regulators make decisions
regarding issues like well placement and appropriate injections
rates for fluids.
The report said two adjacent regions were most affected: one
largely in northern Oklahoma but extending into southern
Kansas, and the other stretching from central Oklahoma to the
Texas border, where seismic activity has soared in the last six
years.
It also mapped parts of Texas where it said wastewater injection
wells had produced quakes, including the heavily populated
Dallas-Fort Worth area. Other risk areas named were in Colorado,
including one that extends into Utah, and in Alabama, Arkansas,
New Mexico and Ohio.
Were seeing these induced earthquakes much more often than
we ever used to, in multiple parts of the country, and we need to
try to understand the risks and how to deal with them, Mr.
Petersen said.
Continue reading the main story

GRAPHIC

Quakes in Oklahoma
Maps showing a rise in the number of earthquakes.

OPEN GRAPHIC

Thousands of small quakes occur every year around the country,

noticed only by the jittering needles of seismographs; a
magnitude 3 temblor is felt by some people relatively close by, but
the only harm is to their nerves. But the scale used to measure
earthquakes is logarithmic, meaning that a magnitude 4 quake is
10 times as powerful as a magnitude 3, and a magnitude 5
strong enough to do some structural damage is 10 times as
powerful as a magnitude 4.
In 2011, central Oklahoma experienced the most powerful
earthquake recorded in the state, a 5.6-magnitude shock that
scientists have also called the nations biggest human-induced
quake. By comparison, the major quake that struck Los Angeles in
1994 measured 6.7, and the one that hit the San Francisco Bay
Area in 1989 measured 6.9.
The highly technical report was a step toward predicting the risk
from human-caused quakes, which it conceded was extremely
hard to do. Difficulties in assessing seismic hazard arise from a
lack of relevant technical information on human industrial
activity (that is, pumping data for injection wells), the report
said.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

Mr. Petersen noted that wastewater disposal and related

earthquakes fluctuate year by year based on economic and policy
decisions, which are very difficult to predict. In fact, the report
shows that in places where wastewater injection stopped,
earthquake frequency fell to near zero notably, in central
Arkansas since 2011 and in an area north of Denver in the 1970s.
Predicting risk is also hard, the report noted, because there is no
scientific consensus on just how powerful such quakes can be. The
report estimated the effects of shocks up to magnitudes 6 and 7,
while noting that some scientists have speculated that the
catastrophic 7.9-magnitude earthquakein China in 2008 was
caused by human activity.
Im not necessarily saying that were going to have a 7 in
Oklahoma, Mr. Petersen said. But I dont think we can rule that
out.
Scientists have also posited that human-caused quakes could lead
to additional ones on naturally occurring faults nearby.
The agencys assessments of naturally occurring earthquake risks
are often used to help determine building codes and set insurance
rates. Buildings in the middle of the country, unlike those on the
West Coast, generally do not have to meet seismic safety
standards.
Correction:

April

26,

2015

An earlier version of this article, because of an errant email response, said

incorrectly that the American Petroleum Institute had not answered a request for
comment. The organizations comment has now been included to the article.
John Schwartz and Michael Wines contributed reporting.
A version of this article appears in print on April 24, 2015, on page A1 of the New
York edition with the headline: U.S. Maps Pinpoint Earthquakes Linked to Quest for
Oil and Gas. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

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