Human-Induced Earthquakes and Groundwater Extraction in India

• Human activities such as mining, extracting groundwater, impounding water behind dams, injecting fluids into the ground, and engineering coastal structures can induce seismic activity.

• Repeated loading and unloading of the crust can cause strain to accumulate between tectonic plates, modulating seismic activity.

• In India, excessive groundwater extraction for farming and human consumption can lead to shallow earthquakes in the National Capital Region.

• The risk for earthquakes induced by groundwater extraction is spread across the Gangetic plains, where the water table is dropping rapidly.

• Large dams that change the water load on the surface have caused past human-induced earthquakes, such as the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Koynanagar, Maharashtra, in 1967.

• India’s growing energy demand also increases the risk of this type of disaster.

• The methods used to extract energy have significant risks on earth, be it oil or hydropower.

• Fracking, where liquids are injected into the ground to push rocks apart and allow extraction of oil and natural gas, has also been shown to induce earthquakes.

• Climate change can indirectly affect the occurrence of earthquakes and render them more frequent over time.

• Changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change can modulate the water loading process on the surface.

• The risk of earthquakes is not present at all locations where there is groundwater depletion or huge dams, they have only been recorded in areas present on faultlines or facing plate deformation processes