Key factors in human-made earthquakes

Researchers report that the roughness of pre-existing faults and associated stress heterogeneity in geological reservoirs play a key role for causing human-made earthquakes, so-called runaway events. The study combines novel fluid injection experiments under acoustic monitoring performed in GFZ's geomechanical laboratory with numerical modelling results.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240118122148.htm