Injected gas makes Earth rumble

摘要

Earthquakes that shook an old Texas oil field over the past few years could be due to injections of carbon dioxide gas. Previous tremors in the area were tied to wastewater injections, but these are the first events attributed to forcing pressurized gas underground. Two years after significant gas injections began in the oil field to boost production (pictured), the area experienced a spate of small earthquakes, 18 of which reached magnitudes between 3 and 4.4. Wei Gan and Cliff Frohlich at the University of Texas at Austin have now determined the precise location and timing of the quakes.