title: INDUCED SEISMICITY. High-rate injection is associated with the increase in U.S. mid-continent seismicity.
abstract: An unprecedented increase in earthquakes in the U.S. mid-continent began in 2009. Many of these earthquakes have been documented as induced by wastewater injection. We examine the relationship between wastewater injection and U.S. mid-continent seismicity using a newly assembled injection well database for the central and eastern United States. We find that the entire increase in earthquake rate is associated with fluid injection wells. High-rate injection wells (>300,000 barrels per month) are much more likely to be associated with earthquakes than lower-rate wells. At the scale of our study, a well's cumulative injected volume, monthly wellhead pressure, depth, and proximity to crystalline basement do not strongly correlate with earthquake association. Managing injection rates may be a useful tool to minimize the likelihood of induced earthquakes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. matthew.weingarten@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weingarten
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Godt
authors.affiliation: United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bekins
authors.affiliation: United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rubinstein