R43836 humaninduced earthquakes from deepwell injection. Quantifying their contribution presents difficult challenges that will require new research into the physics of induced earthquakes and the potential for inducing largemagnitude events. Earthquake hazard associated with deep well injection a report to the u. There are now over 70 known cases of reservoirinduced earthquakes. Jan 10, 2020 once underground injection at a site has started and potential induced seismicity is monitored in real time, we propose to utilize two established statistical relations for induced earthquakes to monitor the evolving potential for high. Most of this seismicity occurred away from regionally mapped faults, challenging efforts to constrain the continuing hazards of injection. It has long been known that impoundment of reservoirs, surface and. Healy, et al, geophysical and geological investigations relating to earthquakes in the denver area, colorado, u. The results can be used to assess the probability of induced slip on a known fault from a given injection related pore pressure increase.
It occurred in a sequence, with 2 earthquakes of mw 5. 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. Induced seismicity provides insight into why earthquake. We argue that, yes, small earthquakes do matter, and their interaction may be an important triggering mechanism to consider. Myths and facts on wastewater injection, hydraulic fracturing, enhanced oil recovery, and induced seismicity. It has long been known that impoundmen t of reservoirs. After dividing northcentral oklahoma into six study areas, we invert earthquake focal plane mechanisms in each area to constrain the orientation and relative magnitude of the principal stresses. Most injection wells are not associated with felt earthquakes. The mechanism of induced seismicity download ebook pdf. R43836 humaninduced earthquakes from deepwell injection a. Links between wastewater injection and the 2011 m w 5. Highrate injection is associated with the increase in u.
Earthquakes induced by deep injection there has been a growing realization that the principal seismic hazard from injectioninduced earthquakes comes from those associated with disposal of wastewater into deep strata or basement formations 5. In oklahoma, which has the most induced earthquakes in us, only 12% of the earthquakes can be linked to hydraulic fracturing operations. Recent examples of injectioninduced earthquakes associated with unconventional oil and gas activities include a moment magnitude mw 5. Injectioninduced seismicity from class ii disposal wells.
T he injection of fluids into the subsurfacehas been known to induce earthquakes since the mid1960s. Here we identify the largest earthquake potentially related to injection, an mw 5. How large are the earthquakes induced by fluid injection. Although the rate of seismicity has declined with injection rates, some earthquake sequences remained active in 2018 and new clusters have developed. Humaninduced earthquakes that cause nuisance are rare, but in. The media commonly report on induced earthquakes incorrectly, and consequently policy makers and the.
Murray, 2014 class ii underground injection control well data for 201020 by geologic zones of completion, oklahoma, pdf download holland, a. We develop theoretical estimates, validated by simulations, of the size of ruptures. Environmental protection agency by craig nicholson1 and robert l. Injectioninduced earthquakes pose a serious seismic hazard but also offer an opportunity to gain insight into earthquake physics. Human induced earthquakes that cause nuisance are rare, but in some cases may be a significant problem.
Shaking from injectioninduced earthquakes in the central. Currently used models relating the maximum magnitude of injectioninduced earthquakes to injection parameters do not incorporate rupture physics. How to reduce fluidinjectioninduced seismicity request pdf. A brief overview may 12, 2015 open pdf 753 kb 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. Globally, the koyna dam creating shivajisagar lake in maharashtra, india, continues to be the most significant site of reservoir induced earthquakes. A brief overview congressional research service summary the development of unconventional oil and natural gas resources using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has created new demand for disposal wells that inject waste fluids into deep geologic formations. This report discusses known cases of injection induced seismicity and how and why earthquakes may be triggered, as well as conditions under which the triggering is most likely to occur. This report is developed by the statesfirst induced seismicity by injection work group iswg. Many of the largest injectioninduced earthquakes have occurred along faults in basement rock beneath the target injection aquifers barbour et al.
It is sometimes possible for fluid injection or mining activities to upset this balance and trigger earthquakes on faults that might not move in a naturally occurring earthquake for thousands of years. What controls the maximum magnitude of injectioninduced. British columbia oil and gas commission bcogc, 2012. Results of ongoing multiyear research on induced earthquakes by the united states geological survey usgs published in 2015 suggested that most of the significant earthquakes in oklahoma, such as the 1952 magnitude 5. Most seismic events triggered or induced by human activity produce only very lowlevel shaking. Ogs fluid injection induced seismicity workshop, july 16, 20 summary ogs statement about the cause of 2011 prague earthquake sequence pdf other information on triggered or induced seismicity. Wastewater injection has induced earthquakes in oklahoma, but the relative importance of operational and geologic parameters in triggering such earthquakes is unclear. Current understanding of induced seismicity in the united states. This report discusses known cases of injectioninduced seismicity and how and why earthquakes may be triggered, as well as conditions under which the triggering is most likely to occur. Evans, institute of engineering geology, eth zurich, switzerland. The risk of significant induced earthquakes caused directly from hydraulic fracturing will be less. Wesson2 summary within the united states, injection of fluid into deep wells has triggered documented earthquakes in colorado, texas, new york, new mexico, nebraska, and ohio and.
Sep 23, 2016 coping with earthquakes induced by fluid injection menlo park, calif. Significant earthquakes are increasingly occurring within the continental interior of the united states, including five of moment magnitude mw. Water injection at the rangely oilfield began in 1957 in response to declining petroleum production and decreased reservoir pressures. However, few additional cases of earthquakes induced by wastewater injection have been documented until 2009 4. Since the publication of the first dams and earthquakes in 1976, the phenomenon of reservoir induced seismicity ris is more widely understood. The injection depth above the crystalline basement was the most. Parameters, draft, in new manual of seismological observatory practice. In the context of injectioninduced seismicity, the processes that. National security internet archive nsia additional collections. Ongoing injection operations in the region should be conducted with these understandings in mind. Injectioninduced earthquakes have, in particular, become a focus of discussion as the application of hydraulic fracturing to tight shale formations is enabling the. Human induced earthquakes have become an important topic of political and scien. 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.
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. R43836 humaninduced earthquakes from deepwell injection a brief overview. Induced earthquakes in the development of unconventional. Ogs fluid injection induced seismicity workshop, july 16, 20 summary. A paper published today in science provides a case for increasing transparency and data collection to enable strategies for mitigating the effects of humaninduced earthquakes caused by wastewater injection associated with oil and gas production in the united states. Plain language summary studies of the triggering mechanisms of injection. Assessing the manner in which basement faults are likely to respond to pressure perturbations caused by fluid injection is. May 09, 2018 many of the largest injection induced earthquakes have occurred along faults in basement rock beneath the target injection aquifers barbour et al. 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.
The effect of varying fluid injection activities on induced earthquakes through jointenriched finite element analyses conference paper pdf available march 2019. Currently used models relating the maximum magnitude of injection induced earthquakes to injection parameters do not incorporate rupture physics. Ellsworth, william 20 injectioninduced earthquakes. We develop theoretical estimates, validated by simulations, of the size of ruptures induced by localized porepressure. Although these earthquakes were by no means devastating, they did occasion extensive attention and concern in the denver area. Although the message that these earthquakes are induced by fluid injection related to oil and gas production has been com. Pdf the effect of varying fluid injection activities on. Several recent studies have presented evidence that significant induced earthquakes occurred in a number of oilproducing regions during the early and midtwentieth century related to either production or wastewater injection. Pdf managing injectioninduced seismic risks researchgate. Probabilistic assessment of potential fault slip related to. Injection induced earthquakes pose a serious seismic hazard but also offer an opportunity to gain insight into earthquake physics. The effect of varying fluid injection activities on induced earthquakes through jointenriched finite element analyses conference paper pdf available march 2019 with 41 reads how we measure.
The largest earthquake induced by fluid injection that has been documented in the scientific literature was a magnitude 5. The results can be used to assess the probability of induced slip on a known fault from a given injectionrelated pore pressure increase. Induced seismicity download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. The nisar satellite mission will improve our ability to characterize such induced earthquakes, and increase our understanding of changing earthquake likelihoods. Injectioninduced seismicity and faultslip potential in. Placing the problem in perspective nicholas deichmann, swiss seismological service, switzerland. It has long been known that impoundment of reservoirs, surface and underground mining, withdrawal of fluids and gas from the subsurface, and injection of fluids into. Probabilistic assessment of potential fault slip related. The fourth paper deals with water injection induced seismic activity, while the remaining 12 papers treat several aspects of water reservoir induced earthquakes. We conclude that most faults in the system are highly sensitive to reactivation, and we postulate that many faults are still unidentified. Ellsworth, william 20 injectioninduced earthquakes, science 341, 1225942, doi.
Concurrently, the volume of fluid injected into the subsurface related to the production of unconventional resources continues to rise. The earthquake was felt in at least 17 states and caused damage in the epicentral region. In this study we demonstrate a relationship between the 2011 oklahoma seismicity and. In this study i consider the ground motions generated by 11 moderate m w 4. 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.
The injection depth above the crystalline basement was the most important parameter when considering the. It is well known that shear slip of injectioninduced seismicity is caused by the reduction of effective normal stress due to increase of pore pressure. In intraplate regions neither infrastructure nor populations may be prepared for earthquakes. Injection activities, which account for 21% of anthropogenic earthquakes, occur during wastewater disposal from industrial processes, conventional enhanced oil recovery eor, reservoir stimulation from hydrofracturing fracking, reservoir stimulation related to enhanced geothermal systems egs, injection research projects, and. We investigate temporal variations in maximum magnitudes of induced earthquakes at the pvu using two methods.
In this study i consider the ground motions generated by 11 moderate mw4. Managing injection rates may be a useful tool to minimize the likelihood of induced earthquakes. The primary cause of these earthquakes, which can reach magnitude 3. Oklahomas induced seismicity strongly linked to wastewater. For example, earthquakes felt in some oil and gas producing regionssuch as the eagle ford in south texasare associated with fluid extraction, while. Minimizing and managing potential impacts of injectioninduced. Induced or triggered seismicity here taken to mean the same is a recognised hazard in practically all engineering.
Injection induced earthquakes are typically smaller than m 5 currently, there is no generalized u. Although induced seismicity related to underground injection activities was irst observed in the. Earthquake hazard associated with deep well injection a. Injection induced earthquakes, such as those that struck in 2011, clearly contribute to the seismic hazard. Once underground injection at a site has started and potential induced seismicity is monitored in real time, we propose to utilize two established statistical relations for induced earthquakes to monitor the evolving potential for high. The remaining earthquakes are induced by wastewater disposal. Ogs statement about the cause of 2011 prague earthquake sequence.
Induced seismic risk varies tremendously by region, and that has implications for managing waste disposal operations. Holloway 2014, multidisciplinary approach to identify and mitigate the hazard from induced seismicity in oklahoma, in amer. Humaninduced earthquak es have become an importan t topic of political and scien. Therefore, in situ stress and hydraulic stimulation information might provide constraints on the orientation of the fault plane that slipped e. Pie chart of causes attributed to suspected humaninduced earthquakes. Maximum magnitude estimations of induced earthquakes at. Shaking intensity from injectioninduced versus tectonic. The estimate of maximum magnitude of induced earthquakes is difficult to constrain as, unlike naturally occurring earthquakes, the maximum magnitude of induced earthquakes changes over time and is affected by injection parameters. Furthermore, manmade alterations to the earths surface can also trigger earthquakes. Understanding induced earthquakes earthquakes are now occurring in areas with little historical seismicity as a result of activities associated with resource extraction. Potential injectioninduced seismicity associated with oil. For example, earthquakes felt in some oil and gas producing regionssuch as the eagle ford in south texasare associated with. A critical issue in seismology is to understand the relationship between earthquakes on various scales, giving the similarities and differences between the large earthquakes that occur on plate boundaries through to the very small shallow events associated with mining.
Using spatially rich intensity data from the usgs did you feel it. But earthquakes are also triggered when the subsoil is breached for other reasons, such as the injection of co 2 or wastewater, for the conventional and unconventional extraction of crude oil and natural gas through fracking, or in mining and tunneling. Shaking from injectioninduced earthquakes in the central and. Myths and facts on wastewater injection, hydraulic. Review and recommendations for induced seismic mitigation. 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. Not all wastewater injection wells induce earthquakes. Induced earthquakes were simulated with a coupled fluid flow and quasidynamic earthquake rupture model. Mar 16, 2018 wastewater injection has induced earthquakes in oklahoma, but the relative importance of operational and geologic parameters in triggering such earthquakes is unclear. It has long been known that impoundment of reservoirs, surface and underground mining, withdrawal of fluids and gas.
1430 76 1166 1503 713 1467 935 1363 269 1296 1073 247 1371 396 1097 749 132 1192 401 607 1027 1460 1462 1068 226 623 294 11 490 1410 149 1248