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Analytical investigation of hydraulic fracture-induced seismicity and fault activation

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Abstract

More recent public discourse has taken place regarding the potential correlation between seismic activity and hydraulic fracturing in shale gas reservoirs. Public fears about the risk of seismicity stem mainly from past earthquakes induced by conventional deep injections because the two types of projects share similar mechanisms of rock failure and fault activation. Although previous earthquake risks associated with fluid injection were not serious, the situation would be far more problematic if hydraulic fracturing in a shale gas reservoir triggered a similar-sized earthquake due to potential environmental issues. In fact, almost all documented injection-induced earthquakes have been associated with long-duration and high-volume injection rather than short-term (hours) pressurization (e.g., hydraulic fracturing). In general, hydraulic fracturing operations mostly induce microseismic events through rock failure and activation of small fractures. Although shale reservoirs in tectonically active zones pose a high risk of inducing large-magnitude seismic activities, the internal geological conditions and external stimulation conditions are impossible to be satisfied simultaneously to trigger activation of an entire fault and to result in a destructive earthquake during hydraulic fracturing operations.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant no. XDB10030602) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 41372325). Grateful appreciation is expressed for these supports.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100029, China

    Haijun Zhao, Fengshan Ma, Gang Liu, Xuelei Feng & Jie Guo

  2. Institutions of Earth Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, China

    Haijun Zhao, Fengshan Ma, Gang Liu, Xuelei Feng & Jie Guo

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  1. Haijun Zhao
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Zhao, H., Ma, F., Liu, G. et al. Analytical investigation of hydraulic fracture-induced seismicity and fault activation. Environ Earth Sci 77, 526 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7708-8

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