High-rate injection is associated with the increase in U.S. mid-continent seismicity

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aab1345
• Publication Date: 2015-06-18T18:10:13Z
• Authors: M. Weingarten; S. Ge; J. W. Godt; B. A. Bekins; J. L. Rubinstein
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Making quakes depends on injection rates

Wastewater injection wells induce earthquakes that garner much attention, especially in tectonically inactive regions. Weingarten et al. combined information from public injection-well databases from the eastern and central United States with the best earthquake catalog available over the past 30 years. The rate of fluid injection into a well appeared to be the most likely decisive triggering factor in regions prone to induced earthquakes. Along these lines, Walsh III and Zoback found a clear correlation between areas in Oklahoma where waste saltwater is being injected on a large scale and areas experiencing increased earthquake activity.

Science , this issue p. 1336 ; Sci. Adv. 10.1126/sciadv.1500195 (2015).