Human-Caused Earthquakes on the Rise in the Central and Eastern United States

Humans can cause earthquakes; this fact has long been known by scientists as people continue industrial operations. Now, scientists have found that earthquake activity has sharply increased since 2009 in the central and eastern United States, and that this increase can be linked to industrial operations that dispose of wastewater by injecting it into deep wells.

In this latest study, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists identified 17 areas within eight states with increased rates of induced seismicity. In fact, since 2000 several of these areas have experienced high levels of seismicity, with substantial increases since 2009 that continue today. The researchers developed models that analyzed the earthquakes in these regions and considered their rates, locations, maximum magnitude and ground motions.

The preliminary set of models may be able to forecast how hazardous ground shaking could be in the areas where sharp increases in seismicity have been recorded. These models ultimately aim to calculate how often earthquakes are expected to occur in the next year and how hard the ground will likely shake.

"This new report describes for the first time how injection-induced earthquakes can be incorporated into U.S. seismic hazard maps," said Mark Petersen, one of the researchers, in a news release. "These earthquakes are occurring at a higher rate than ever before and pose a much greater risk to people living nearby. The USGS is developing methods that overcome the challenges in assessing seismic hazards in these regions in order to support decisions that help keep communities safe from ground shaking."

The findings reveal that injecting groundwater into wells could be a significant cause of earthquakes. Interestingly, the researchers also found that hydraulic fracturing is only occasionally the direct cause of felt earthquakes.

The findings are published in a news report online here.

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