Definition
Anthropogenic seismicity: Earthquakes induced or triggered by technological, usually georesources exploitation-related, activity.
Overview
Exploitation of georesources alters the stress and strength conditions in the engaged rock mass. When such exploitation takes place in brittle rocks and yields stresses exceeding the rock strength at any point, the rock can fracture, violently emitting seismic waves. This anthropogenic seismicity was first observed as related to underground mining. The first description of a damaging seismic event, called a rockburst, refers to the lead mine in Derbyshire in England in 1738. With rising demand for energy and minerals, anthropogenic seismicity has been appearing in association with diverse technological processes, and also in areas previously known as aseismic. Seismic events can be induced by underground and open-pit mining, both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploitation, and geothermal energy production, as well as many...
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Lasocki, S., Orlecka-Sikora, B. (2021). Anthropogenic Seismicity Related to Exploitation of Georesources. In: Gupta, H.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58631-7_277
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58631-7_277
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