In this context, we developed analytical approaches for estimating 1 thermoporoelastic stresses in a fractured geothermal system, and 2 seismicity rates based on the. Page professor of geophysics stanford university codirector, stanford center for induced and triggered seismicity schatzalp conference, davos march 1517, 2017. Saltwater injection, induced earthquakes and pressure increase in oklahoma and kansas. Shaking from injectioninduced earthquakes in the central.
These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake that follows. Shaking from injectioninduced earthquakes in the central and eastern united states. Concerns about seismicity could shake up energy activity updated 11. Ellsworth earthquakes in unusual locations have become an important topic of discussion in both north america and europe, owing to the concern that industrial activity could cause damaging earthquakes. A new era of earthquake science human activity sometimes causes earthquakes particularly when large masses of material are moved from one area to another, or when fluids are extracted or injected into the subsurface. The sustainability of geothermal fields is based on a paradox. Scott phillips, earthquakes induced by hydraulic injections at yosemite.
Assessing potential magnitudes of injection induced seismicity mark d. Injectioninduced seismicity and faultslip potential in the. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 11219. There are many ways in which induced seismicity has been seen to occur. It has long been understood that earthquakes can be induced by impoundment of. Induced seismicity refers to typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on the earths crust.
The regulation and potential liability of induced earthquakes paula e. Human induced earthquakes differ in frequency from natural earthquakes thus some traditional preparedness measures do not apply. Quantifying their contribution presents difficult challenges that will require new research into the physics of induced earthquakes and the potential for inducing largemagnitude events. The nisarisro sar mission managing resources underfoot. The sudden appearance of several large, potentiallyinduced earthquakesledtomanysitespecificcasestudies4. Journal of rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering, 86.
Ongoing injection operations in the region should be conducted with these understandings in mind. Assessing potential magnitudes of injectioninduced seismicity. For example, injectioninduced earthquakes are thought to be responsible for the increase of earthquakes in some places, like oklahoma, which in 2014 experienced a greater number of earthquakes larger than magnitude 3 than california. In the past several years, some energy technologies that inject or extract fluid from the earth, such as oil and gas extraction and geothermal energy development, have been found or suspected to cause seismic events. Ogs statement about the cause of 2011 prague earthquake sequence. Ellsworth, 20, injection induced earthquakes, science 341, 1225942 20. Injection induced seismicity and faultslip potential in the fort worth basin, texas by peter h. Shaking from injection induced earthquakes in the central and eastern united states. If the current boom in onshore oil and gas production continues, then deepwell injection of waste fluids is likely to also continue and may increase in volume. Injectioninduced seismicity from class ii disposal wells.
Ogs statement on usgs maps of potential groundshaking hazards 2017 pdf april 21, 2015 ogs statement on oklahoma earthquakes. Sep 26, 2018 saltwater injection, induced earthquakes and pressure increase in oklahoma and kansas. E managingbasinscalefluidbudgetstoreduce injection. Reduction of injectioninduced porepressure and stress in. E managingbasinscalefluidbudgetstoreduce injectioninduced. We estimated the potential for inducing seismicity by coupled thermalhydrologicalmechanical analysis of the geothermal steam production and cold water injection to calculate changes in stress in time and space and. Zoback department of geophysics, stanford university, 397 panama mall, stanford, california 94305, usa abstract. Potential injectioninduced seismicity associated with oil. Zoback 1 reinjection of saltwater, coproduced with oil, triggered thousands of widely felt and several damaging earthquakes in oklahoma and kansas. It has been accepted for inclusion in lsu journal of energy law and resources by an authorized editor of lsu law digital commons. This report is developed by the statesfirst induced seismicity by injection work.
The rangely, colorado, induced seismicity experiment is an important milestone in the study of induced seismicity that firmly established the effective stress mechanism for induced seismicity. This suggests that stress drops of injection induced earthquakes are systematically lower than tectonic earthquakes by an estimated factor of 210. This case study documents two parallel seismic monitoring efforts one. Pdf managing injectioninduced seismic risks researchgate. Shaking from injectioninduced earthquakes in the central and. Are earthquakes induced by fluidinjection activities. Minimizing and managing potential impacts of injectioninduced. Human activity can induced earthquakes in two ways w.
Injectioninduced earthquakes are thought to be caused by pressure changes due to excess fluid injected deep below the surface and are being dubbed manmade earthquakes. Funds were invested in identifying the cause but little has been done to regulate a very powerful industry or improve infrastructure. Using spatially rich intensity data from the usgs did you feel it. For example, earthquakes felt in some oil and gas producing regionssuch as the eagle ford in south texasare associated with.
Current understanding of induced seismicity in the united states. This study analyzes possible correlations between locations. Geological survey usgs, denver library materials for. Injectioninduced earthquakes, such as those that struck in 2011, clearly contribute to the seismic. Majority of earthquakes tectonic but seismicity can be triggered by human activities induced seismic activity has been documented since at least the 1920s underground injection, oil and gas extraction, impoundment of reservoirs behind dams, geothermal.
On the importance of thermoelastic stressing in injection. The recent increase in induced seismicity related to uog operations. Highrate injection is associated with the increase in u. We argue that, yes, small earthquakes do matter, and their interaction may be an important triggering mechanism to consider. Pdf potentially induced earthquakes in oklahoma, usa. Usgs and its university partners have also deployed seismometers at sites of known or possible injectioninduced earthquakes in arkansas, southern colorado, oklahoma and ohio. Hough, shaking from injectioninduced earthquakes in the central and eastern united states, bulletin of the seismological society of am. Community effects of induced seismicity in oklahoma georgia halkia1and lisa grant ludwig1 1program in public health, university of california, irvine background results references conclusion methods since 2010, seismicity in oklahoma has increased dramatically. Modeling injectioninduced seismicity with the physicsbased. We conclude that most faults in the system are highly sensitive to reactivation, and we postulate that many faults are still unidentified. Links between wastewater injection and the 2011 mw 5. Earthquakes can be induced as part of the process to stimulate the production from tight shale. Injectioninduced earthquakes have, in particular, become a focus of discussion as the application of hydraulic fracturing to tight shale formations is enabling the production of oil and gas from previously unproductive formations.
It has long been known that impoundment of reservoirs, surface and. Other information on triggered or induced seismicity. Humaninduced earthquakes have become an important topic of political and scien. In this study i consider the ground motions generated by 11 moderate mw4.
How large are the earthquakes induced by fluid injection. International analysis shaking from injectioninduced. A brief overview congressional research service 3 development of unconventional oil and gas resources in the united states. Once an exploration well has been drilled, it is possible to perform trial injections and analyse, perhaps in realtime, the attributes of the microseismicity that is produced, such as momentfrequency relations. Drilling induced earthquakes may endanger millions in 2016, usgs says. Deshon, robin dommisse, elizabeth horne, casee lemons, and mark d. Are earthquakes induced by fluidinjection activities always. A brief overview congressional research service summary the development of unconventional oil and natural gas resources using horizontal drilling and highvolume hydraulic fracturing has created new demand for wastewater disposal wells that inject waste fluids into deep geologic strata. Impoundment of water on the surface behind dams, open pit and underground mining, and wastewater injection have all been linked to. A much broader scale study relating induced seismicity to. On one side, fractures are targeted on heatflow improvement, and on the other side, the same fractures are avoided because of induced seismicity risk. The largest earthquake induced by fluid injection that has been documented in the scientific literature was a magnitude 5. Injectioninduced earthquakes have, in particular, become a focus of discussion as the application of hydraulic fracturing to tight shale formations is enabling the production of oil and gas from. Plain language summary studies of the triggering mechanisms of injection.
Scott phillips, earthquakes induced by hydraulic injections at yosemite national park, abstract eos trans. Drillinginduced earthquakes may endanger millions in 2016. Injection induced earthquakes have, in particular, become a focus of discussion as the application of hydraulic fracturing to tight shale formations is enabling the production of oil and gas from previously unproductive formations. Thesecasestudiesexamined the operation of injection wells in close proximity to the earthquakes, showing a link between the timing and location of injection and seismicity 12, 1418. Here, we present a modeling approach for simulating seismicity induced by fluid injection in 3d over multiple earthquake cycles. Azlereno earthquakes dfw airport earthquakes excluding ogwari et al. Bardwell, some statistical features of the relationship between rocky mountain arsenal waste disposal and frequency of earthquakes, 3.
Concerns about seismicity could shake up energy activity. They reported on one of the first results of a highresolution nearsurface geoelectrical and surface mapping investigation that was designed to image the. Consistent with other reports, our temporal analysis of earthquakes in oklahoma showed that since about 2009, seismic activity there has greatly increased. The aseismic slip started on a shallow normal fault following a rapid increase in injection rate two years before the m5 events occurred. Induced seismicity provides insight into why earthquake. Therefore, to evaluate the need for mitigation and management of the risk of induced seismic events, it is important to first understand the basics of injectioninduced seismicity. A brief overview congressional research service summary the development of unconventional oil and natural gas resources using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing fracking has created new demand for wastewater disposal wells that inject waste fluids into deep geologic strata. However, relatively limited data suggest that intensities for epicentral distances less than 10 km are more commensurate with expectations for the event magnitude, which can be reasonably explained. Hough, shaking from injection induced earthquakes in the central and eastern united states, bulletin of the seismological society of am. If you wish to distribute this article to others, you can order highquality copies for your following the guidelines here.
In recent years a consensus in the scientific community has emerged that, while hydraulic fracturing fracking rarely causes earthquakes large enough to be felt, the disposal of waste fluids produced in fracking operations in deep injection wells can, in some cases, induce earthquakes on nearby faults. Induced seismic risk varies tremendously by region, and that has implications for managing waste disposal operations. Injectioninduced earthquakes have, in particular, become a focus of discussion as the application of hydraulic fracturing to tight shale formations is enabling the. Injectioninduced earthquakes this copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only.
In this study we analyze relative contributions to the cause and mechanism of injectioninduced microearthquakes meqs at the geysers geothermal field, california. Probabilistic assessment of potential fault slip related. There is growing evidence that wastewater injection can generate earthquakes under certain conditions. Probabilistic assessment of potential fault slip related to injectioninduced earthquakes. Pdf seismic hazard from natural and induced seismicity.
Geomechanical analysis of the influence of co2 injection location on fault stability. Ogs fluid injection induced seismicity workshop, july 16, 20 summary. Analysis of injectioninduced microearthquakes in a. Injectioninduced seismicity and faultslip potential in. Water injection at the rangely oilfield began in 1957 in response to declining petroleum production and decreased reservoir pressures. 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. The pawnee earthquake as a result of the interplay among. For example, earthquakes felt in some oil and gas producing regionssuch as the eagle ford in south texasare associated with fluid extraction, while. Induced earthquake bibliography injection induced earthquakes at the rocky mountain arsenal. Injection induced earthquakes have, in particular, become a focus of discussion as the application of hydraulic fracturing to tight shale formations is enabling the production of oil and gas from. Nonstructural damage reported in earthquakes as small as m 3 in rare cases injection induced earthquakes are typically smaller than m 5 currently, there is no generalized u. Preface to the focus section on the 3 september 2016. From 20 to 2014, the number of all earthquakes increased by 90 percent.
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