Induced Seismicity The arrival of manmade Earthquakes Franklin

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Induced Seismicity The arrival of man-made Earthquakes Franklin Wolfe HEJC – Fall 2017 1

Induced Seismicity The arrival of man-made Earthquakes Franklin Wolfe HEJC – Fall 2017 1

Outline For Today’s Talk • Earthquake Overview & Induced Seismicity • Mechanics • Historic

Outline For Today’s Talk • Earthquake Overview & Induced Seismicity • Mechanics • Historic Case Studies/Proof • Federal & State Responses/Legislation • Visualization Lab (Castor, Spain) 2

What is an Earthquake? • Sudden release of stored energy in the Earth’s crust

What is an Earthquake? • Sudden release of stored energy in the Earth’s crust that generates seismic waves generally caused by rupture on geologic faults • Energy released in the form of seismic waves causes ground shaking and surface rupture can directly damage structures • Landslides, avalanches, fires, soil liquefaction, tsunami, flood Fault Rupture and Seismic Waves Wikifuller. wikispaces. com Global Tectonic Plate Motion Vectors http: //maxworldgeography. weebly. com/geosphere. html Global Earthquake Locations Pacific Tsunami Warning Center 3

What Earthquakes Feel Like? II: Felt by a few at rest IV: Felt indoors

What Earthquakes Feel Like? II: Felt by a few at rest IV: Felt indoors by many, dishes, windows, and doors disturbed VI: Felt by all, many frightened, heavy furniture moved IX: Considerable damage to structures 4 Source: United States Geological Survey

What is Induced Seismicity? • Earthquakes caused by human activities • Human activities can

What is Induced Seismicity? • Earthquakes caused by human activities • Human activities can alter the state of stress on pre-existing faults and/or create new fractures within the crust Date of Search: 11/15/17 5

Induced Events Reservoirs 1967 - M 6. 5, 5. 2 Koynanager, India >177 deaths

Induced Events Reservoirs 1967 - M 6. 5, 5. 2 Koynanager, India >177 deaths & 2, 000 injuries Nuclear Bombs 2017 – M 6. 3 not far from North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site Mining Activites 1983 – CSA coal mine 50 deaths 6 Source: United States Geological Survey; inducedearthquake. com; charlesmccain. com; worldcoal. com

7 Source: seismicsoundlab vimeo

7 Source: seismicsoundlab vimeo

Oil and Gas Activities 1973 -2008 2009 -2013 99 21 >M 3 Number of

Oil and Gas Activities 1973 -2008 2009 -2013 99 21 >M 3 Number of M 3+ Earthquakes per year • • Big Events M 5. 6 Prague, Oklahoma M 5. 3 Trinidad, Colorado M 5. 0 Cushing, Oklahoma M 5. 8 Pawnee, Oklahoma California Earthquakes Oklahoma Earthquakes Source: forbes. com; rbnenergy. com; insideenergy. org 8 Mc. Garr et al. 2015

USGS 2017 One -year model 9 Source: United States Geological Survey; PBS

USGS 2017 One -year model 9 Source: United States Geological Survey; PBS

Ohio Arkansas Texas 2011 -2012 - over 100 2010 -2011 – Increase in small

Ohio Arkansas Texas 2011 -2012 - over 100 2010 -2011 – Increase in small earthquakes in number of M 2. 5 or greater Youngstown, Ohio where events from 1 in 2007, to 2 there were no known past in 2008, to 10 in 2009, 54 earthquakes, largest in 2010, and 157 in 2011, earthquake was a M 3. 9 including a M 4. 7 earthquake in 2011. 2009 – Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, 180 M < 3. 3 earthquakes Kansas 2013 -2014 – M 4. 3, and a few over M 3. 0 Colorado 2011 – M 5. 3 in the Raton Basin 10

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Salt/Formation Water Disposal Fossil water found in the same formations as oil/gas 5 -95%

Salt/Formation Water Disposal Fossil water found in the same formations as oil/gas 5 -95% of produced fluid from well (9 x 1 to oil) • 2012 - 21. 2 billion barrels of produced water in U. S. generated (2 x the amount of Niagara Falls) • Extremely high salinity (~>300, 000 mg/L vs. 3, 500 mg/L in ocean), oil and grease, toxic compounds, radioactive material, unknown composition due to proprietary info • ~91% injected underground ($1 -8/bbl vs. up to $100/bbl) • Became preferred method environmentally and economically after state implementation of rules preventing disposal to surface water or soils 12 Source: Abdallah (Oil Field Review); petrowiki. org; reuters. com

Injection in Oklahoma SALTWATER DISPOSAL WELL CONVENTIONAL OIL PRODUCING WELL HORIZONTAL HYDRAULIC FRACTURING WELL

Injection in Oklahoma SALTWATER DISPOSAL WELL CONVENTIONAL OIL PRODUCING WELL HORIZONTAL HYDRAULIC FRACTURING WELL ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY INJECTION WELL Drinking Water SALTWATER DISPOSAL WELL Mississippi Limestone Woodford Shale Sedimentary Rocks 10, 000 ft Conventional Oil Field Hunton Arbuckle R EA SS SH RE ST Igneous Basement Rocks Tectonic Stress 20, 000’ AL M R ESS O N TR S Credit to Rall Walsh (Stanford University) 13 Modified from:

Mechanism Changing the state of stress in the rocks by creating new fractures or

Mechanism Changing the state of stress in the rocks by creating new fractures or inducing slip on pre-existing geologic faults Pore Pressure Increase 14 Source: Waldron 2016

Confirming the Mechanism 1. An Experiment in Earthquake Control at Rangely, Colorado C. B.

Confirming the Mechanism 1. An Experiment in Earthquake Control at Rangely, Colorado C. B. Raleigh, J. H. Healy, J. D. Bredehoeft 2. The Denver area earthquakes and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Disposal Well David Evans 15

l. Rock Mountain Arsenal • 1882 -1961 – No earthquakes felt • 1962 -1965

l. Rock Mountain Arsenal • 1882 -1961 – No earthquakes felt • 1962 -1965 – 710 earthquakes within 5 mile radius of the well • Injection ceased in 1966 – No earthquakes after Evans, 1966 • Discovery that the injection of fluid at high pressure could trigger earthquakes through this correlation 16 • Led to the hypothesis that earthquakes could be controlled by fluid injection

ll. Rangely Experiment • Collaboration between Chevron and Department of Defense • Oil field

ll. Rangely Experiment • Collaboration between Chevron and Department of Defense • Oil field tertiary recovery • Testing the ‘earthquake control’ hypothesis • Alternated fluid pressure above and below a experimentally determined critical value • Temporal correlation with earthquakes Source: Raleigh et al. 1976) “But, given the encouraging results… we feel that control of the San Andreas fault could ultimately prove to be feasible… The recent rapid advances in research on the mech- anisms of earthquakes, combined with the Rangely results, lead us to the conclusion that initial experiments preliminary to control of earthquakes on the San Andreas fault should now be carried out” 2 17

Harvard-MIT Collaboration Developing a coupled flow-geomechanical analysis for the Rangely Oil Field experiments 18

Harvard-MIT Collaboration Developing a coupled flow-geomechanical analysis for the Rangely Oil Field experiments 18

Federal Regulations 19 Source: Google Images

Federal Regulations 19 Source: Google Images

States Initiatives 20 Source: Google Images

States Initiatives 20 Source: Google Images

21 Source: University of Nottingham

21 Source: University of Nottingham

Mitigation • Baseline studies • Borehole measurements • Numerical modeling • Pre-fracture injection tests

Mitigation • Baseline studies • Borehole measurements • Numerical modeling • Pre-fracture injection tests • Seismic reflection surveys • Traffic-light systems 22