Orals

Induced and triggered seismicity are common phenomena associated with sub-surface exploration and remote seismic events, respectively, and have been related to hydrocarbon extraction, hydraulic fracturing, geothermal exploitation, open-pit crater formation and underground mining operations, CO2 sequestration, and filling of new water reservoirs. Public awareness and concern of induced seismicity has become ubiquitous in locations where subsurface exploration and storage is carried out in close proximity to communities. Of particular concerns are massive fluid injections for hydro-fracturing to increase subsurface permeability as well as long-term injection in disposal wells. These concerns have led to regulations to passively monitor induced seismicity and consequently to a wealth of continuous seismic data. In contrast to the increase in data volume, our understanding of the relationship between exploitation techniques and induced seismicity as well as earthquake-earthquake interactions is still limited. New processing methods to analyze data and quantitative models to improve our understanding of the causal relationship between exploitation and seismicity have been developped. The current session is intended to provide a platform to present the latest research, field studies, theoretical and modelling aspects as well as methods for seismic hazard analysis related to induced and triggered seismicity. Topics to be presented include spatio-temporal variations of physical parameters in reservoirs and natural environments including stress and pressure changes, spatial-temporal patterns of seismicity, source mechanisms of micro- or larger-scale seismicity, mechanisms for induced events and seismic interaction, as well as, fracture-induced anisotropy. Contributions are sought from fundamental and applied research covering the fields of oil and gas operations including hydro-fracturing, geothermal exploitation particularly related to enhanced geothermal systems, open pit and underground mining, CO2 storage, and other fields such as volcano-seismology where induced and triggered seismic activity is observed.