Within the central and eastern United States, the number of earthquakes has increased dramatically over the past few years. Are they natural, or man-made? And what should be done in the future?
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Overview
Between the years 1973–2008, there was an average of 25 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central and eastern United States. This rate ballooned to over 600 M3+ earthquakes in 2014 and over 1000 in 2015. Since 2015 the earthquake rate has declined significantly (364 M3+ earthquakes in 2017), but this is still much higher than the natural earthquake rate.
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Myths and Misconceptions
What you do and don’t know about induced seismicity.
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Observational Studies
The USGS is currently studying seismicity that may be induced at 6 locations across the United States. These studies involve earthquake monitoring, examining industrial data, and evaluating any relationships between seismicity and industrial actions.
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Hazard Estimation
The USGS is currently developing new methods to evaluate the hazard due to induced earthquakes. These methods will account for the rapid changes in earthquake rate that we have witnessed in the past few years.
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Numerical Modeling
The USGS uses numerical simulations of earth processes to: Evaluate the physical relationships between fluid injection and earthquakes at specific sites, and to simulate possible future behaviors of new and ongoing injection projects.
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Publications
USGS publications on induced seismicity.