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Earthquakes Induced by Fluid Injection

USGS - US Geological Survey -- Q: How does the injection of wastewater at depth cause earthquakes?

A:

Earth's crust is pervasively fractured at depth by faults. These faults can sustain high stresses without slipping because natural "tectonic" stress and the weight of the overlying rock pushes the opposing fault blocks together, increasing the frictional resistance to fault slip. The injected wastewater counteracts the frictional forces on faults and, in effect, "pries them apart", thereby facilitating earthquake slip.

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Submitted Feb 07, 2012 By: WalkingWV

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PDQBlues Champion Author San Diego Posts:5,247 Points:1,087,250 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 10:49:06 PM Ignore PDQBlues Report Abuse Excellent post, SkyWarnTX. But word of cation: such facts may get you banned. Have a great week!
RitaVespa Champion Author Oregon Posts:1,681 Points:452,335 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 7:18:02 PM Ignore RitaVespa Report Abuse No...
SkyWarnTX All-Star Author Texas Posts:945 Points:56,845 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 11:19:12 AM Ignore SkyWarnTX Report Abuse Three(3) -OUT DATED- eastern Pennsylvania refineries are closing due to the fact that the U.S. is EXPORTING GASOLINE, there is TOO MUCH GASOLINE in AMERICA... Instead of building a Keystone Pipeline to TEXAS, all CANADA has to do is PURCHASE these THREE(3) eastern Pennsylvania refineries ... PROBLEM SOLVED... REPUBLICANS would lose their VOICE if a law were passed to prohibit EXPORT of KEYSTONE PIPELINE Products... -- Moment of Clarity -- ... No one wants a OIL PIPELINE built on CLEAN WATER AQUAFIERS... NEVER trust a OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVE to take care of your CLEAN WATER... FRACKING, PIPELINE or otherwise... there are no OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVEs living in your WATER DISTRICT... FLAMMABLE WATER is something a BRITA or PUR water filter can NOT fix... -- Moment of Clarity -- ...Price of OIL is DOWN, U.S. is Exporting Refined Gasoline to OTHER CONTRIES... -- Moment of Clarity -- ... Republican Oil Company Owners are Manipulating Gas Prices... in their bid to retake the White House in November... -- Moment of Clarity -- ...
md11capt Champion Author Denver Posts:1,797 Points:388,445 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 10:34:27 AM Ignore md11capt Report Abuse BOOM! Another Tea Partier head explodes.
FPLREP Champion Author Virginia Posts:6,382 Points:2,091,520 Joined:Oct 2005	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 9:11:29 AM Ignore FPLREP Report Abuse In theory.
pscamp Champion Author Ottawa Posts:1,176 Points:207,780 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 7:18:28 AM Ignore pscamp Report Abuse too many smoking guns....
PhilMils Champion Author Virginia Posts:5,476 Points:1,052,490 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 7:01:04 AM Ignore PhilMils Report Abuse chuckwthompson, the small amount of water sometimes used as a lubricant when drilling a water well has no impact and does not compare to the enormous amount of water used at very high pressure described in this answer.
chuckwthompson Champion Author Charlotte Posts:1,890 Points:217,535 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 1:10:55 AM Ignore chuckwthompson Report Abuse Doesn't seem to be a problem when you are drilling a water well up to 750 feet here in NC.
apiergallini Veteran Author North Carolina Posts:348 Points:162,755 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 12:50:29 AM Ignore apiergallini Report Abuse Another reason to be against it.
aquarinut Champion Author British Columbia Posts:1,217 Points:278,960 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 12:45:07 AM Ignore aquarinut Report Abuse Pure rubbish! Zero data to back up the question. I would think that it would take Billions of Tons of pressure to create a slip in tectonic plates and those stresses would have to come from far deeper than a thousand feet! If injected waste water has that much pressure, there would be very little needed thus negating the waste water problem!
1momsunshine Champion Author Ottawa Posts:3,651 Points:646,870 Joined:Mar 2010	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 12:31:30 AM Ignore 1momsunshine Report Abuse wow
anascom All-Star Author Hamilton Posts:892 Points:321,315 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 12:21:36 AM Ignore anascom Report Abuse good to know. but irrelevant to gas/oil prices!
investmentdr Champion Author Cleveland Posts:2,365 Points:1,103,935 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 12:04:51 AM Ignore investmentdr Report Abuse uh huh
Vette1967 Champion Author Albany Posts:4,172 Points:920,155 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 11:57:26 PM Ignore Vette1967 Report Abuse I can believe that.
kitty1750 Champion Author Kitchener-Waterloo Posts:1,637 Points:321,360 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 11:41:49 PM Ignore kitty1750 Report Abuse Nasty.
davenles Champion Author Texas Posts:1,391 Points:359,260 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 11:33:06 PM Ignore davenles Report Abuse What does this have to do with the price of gas?
livable1 Champion Author New York Posts:2,323 Points:283,265 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 11:31:54 PM Ignore livable1 Report Abuse sick
lesndave Champion Author Texas Posts:1,256 Points:343,505 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 11:07:40 PM Ignore lesndave Report Abuse Hmmm
dh0770 Champion Author Colorado Posts:1,683 Points:323,335 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:59:15 PM Ignore dh0770 Report Abuse So what does the weight of 7 billion human beings cause?
Blue48 Champion Author Illinois Posts:5,499 Points:1,279,000 Joined:Feb 2007	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:37:04 PM Ignore Blue48 Report Abuse THE GREAT DEBATE!
djvanbeek45 Sophomore Author Twin Cities Posts:102 Points:311,620 Joined:Sep 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:34:21 PM Ignore djvanbeek45 Report Abuse I think they are averting a potential large earthquake.
DrLyon Champion Author Michigan Posts:4,937 Points:856,600 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:28:36 PM Ignore DrLyon Report Abuse Do we need this...
Lugi1967 Champion Author Ohio Posts:3,127 Points:650,270 Joined:Jun 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:27:51 PM Ignore Lugi1967 Report Abuse OK
Venzadriver Champion Author Florida Posts:1,028 Points:290,150 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:12:05 PM Ignore Venzadriver Report Abuse Well, DUHHHH! It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. 'Fracking' will do the same thing. [Edited by: Venzadriver at 2/7/2012 9:12:32 PM EST]
Jeff1944 Champion Author South Dakota Posts:3,484 Points:776,055 Joined:Jan 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:07:27 PM Ignore Jeff1944 Report Abuse Water lubricates in some cases; how does one determine "pries them apart"?
doeslayersr Champion Author Illinois Posts:5,831 Points:512,150 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 9:01:29 PM Ignore doeslayersr Report Abuse An article? Where is the troll patrol on this one?
KAR120CSII Champion Author Oregon Posts:1,958 Points:329,260 Joined:Apr 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 8:21:37 PM Ignore KAR120CSII Report Abuse Thanks Mountaineer.
Chem60 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:1,908 Points:454,475 Joined:Oct 2010	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 8:18:56 PM Ignore Chem60 Report Abuse Makes sense; you are just "greasing" the rocks.
amoshins All-Star Author Trenton Posts:962 Points:312,855 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Feb 7, 2012 7:49:33 PM Ignore amoshins Report Abuse cool stuff