A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation
Hydrofracturing, used for shale gas exploitation, may induce felt, even damaging earthquakes. On 15 June 2019, an M<sub>w</sub>2.8 earthquake occurred, spatially correlated with the location of earlier exploratory hydrofracturing operations for shale gas in Wysin in Poland. However, this...
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/1/336 |
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| author | Stanisław Lasocki Łukasz Rudziński Antek K. Tokarski Beata Orlecka-Sikora |
| author_facet | Stanisław Lasocki Łukasz Rudziński Antek K. Tokarski Beata Orlecka-Sikora |
| author_sort | Stanisław Lasocki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hydrofracturing, used for shale gas exploitation, may induce felt, even damaging earthquakes. On 15 June 2019, an M<sub>w</sub>2.8 earthquake occurred, spatially correlated with the location of earlier exploratory hydrofracturing operations for shale gas in Wysin in Poland. However, this earthquake was atypical. Hydrofracturing-triggered seismicity mainly occurs during stimulation; occasionally, it continues a few months after completion of the stimulation. In Wysin, there were only two weaker events during two-month hydrofracturing and then 35 months of seismic silence until the mentioned earthquake occurred. The Wysin site is in Gdańsk Pomerania broader region, located on the very weakly seismically active Precambrian Platform. The historical documents, covering 1000 years, report no natural earthquakes in Gdańsk Pomerania. We conclude, therefore, that despite the never observed before that long lag time after stimulation, the M<sub>w</sub>2.8 earthquake was triggered by hydrofracturing. It is possible that its unusually late occurrence in relation to the time of its triggering technological activity was caused by changes in stresses due to time-dependent deformation of reservoir shales. The Wysin earthquake determines a new time horizon for the effect of HF on the stress state, which can lead to triggering earthquakes. Time-dependent deformation and its induced stress changes should be considered in shall gas reservoir exploitation plans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:42:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6fb685724b72427cb322dbebf9dae0bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:42:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-6fb685724b72427cb322dbebf9dae0bc2023-11-23T11:29:07ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-01-0115133610.3390/en15010336A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the StimulationStanisław Lasocki0Łukasz Rudziński1Antek K. Tokarski2Beata Orlecka-Sikora3Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Księcia Janusza 64, 01-452 Warszawa, PolandInstitute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Księcia Janusza 64, 01-452 Warszawa, PolandResearch Centre in Krakow, Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Senacka 1, 31-002 Krakow, PolandInstitute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Księcia Janusza 64, 01-452 Warszawa, PolandHydrofracturing, used for shale gas exploitation, may induce felt, even damaging earthquakes. On 15 June 2019, an M<sub>w</sub>2.8 earthquake occurred, spatially correlated with the location of earlier exploratory hydrofracturing operations for shale gas in Wysin in Poland. However, this earthquake was atypical. Hydrofracturing-triggered seismicity mainly occurs during stimulation; occasionally, it continues a few months after completion of the stimulation. In Wysin, there were only two weaker events during two-month hydrofracturing and then 35 months of seismic silence until the mentioned earthquake occurred. The Wysin site is in Gdańsk Pomerania broader region, located on the very weakly seismically active Precambrian Platform. The historical documents, covering 1000 years, report no natural earthquakes in Gdańsk Pomerania. We conclude, therefore, that despite the never observed before that long lag time after stimulation, the M<sub>w</sub>2.8 earthquake was triggered by hydrofracturing. It is possible that its unusually late occurrence in relation to the time of its triggering technological activity was caused by changes in stresses due to time-dependent deformation of reservoir shales. The Wysin earthquake determines a new time horizon for the effect of HF on the stress state, which can lead to triggering earthquakes. Time-dependent deformation and its induced stress changes should be considered in shall gas reservoir exploitation plans.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/1/336hydrofracturinginjection-induced seismicityshale gas |
| spellingShingle | Stanisław Lasocki Łukasz Rudziński Antek K. Tokarski Beata Orlecka-Sikora A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation Energies hydrofracturing injection-induced seismicity shale gas |
| title | A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation |
| title_full | A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation |
| title_fullStr | A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation |
| title_short | A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation |
| title_sort | hydrofracturing triggered earthquake occurred three years after the stimulation |
| topic | hydrofracturing injection-induced seismicity shale gas |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/1/336 |
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