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How we are causing some earthquakes

Gareth Mitchell talks to Gillian Foulger of Durham University about HiQuake, the world's largest database of human-induced earthquakes. Professor Foulger and her colleagues have so far compiled close to 750 seismic events for which there are reasonable cases to be made for anthropogenic triggers. Triggers include mining operations, fossil fuel extraction, reservoir filling, skyscraper construction and tunnelling. Among the surprises is the fact that the U.S. state of Oklahoma is more seismically active than California because of quakes and tremors set off by the local oil and gas industry.

First broadcast on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Inside Science, 5 October 2017.

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4 minutes

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