Full text loading...
-
Stress Release Characteristics of Injectioninduced Seismicity and Implications for Regulatory Approaches
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 78th EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2016, May 2016, Volume 2016, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Summary
Recent incidents of positive magnitude earthquakes associated with fluid injection in petroleum field operations have raised concerns among the general public and government regulators, prompting the proposal or adoption of legislation aimed at mitigating the occurrence of events with the potential to cause damage or injury. However, the thresholds used by such regulations are based on earthquake magnitude, which does not directly determine the hazard associated with an earthquake. Qualitative and quantitative data show that fluid-induced events produce less ground motion than naturally-occurring tectonic events of the same magnitude, due to lower stress drop values. Even accounting for the difference in typical event depth, tectonic events produce stronger ground motion than equivalent magnitude fluid-induced events. There is the potential for magnitude estimates to be biased by recording geometry and other factors, introducing a source of uncertainly, as well as possible discrepancies between estimates for the same event from different monitoring networks. For these and other reasons, it may be more appropriate to base regulations on the observed ground motion due to fluid-induced earthquakes, which is most indicative of the potential damage. Existing regulatory standards for the mining and construction industries may be adapted for this purpose.
© EAGE Publications BV