When the Earth Awakens: How Human Activity Triggers Earthquakes in Unexpected Places
In August 2012, residents of the quiet Dutch village of Huizinge experienced something that seemed impossible in their tectonically stable homeland: a 3.6 magnitude earthquake that rattled buildings and nerves alike. The culprit wasn’t some mysterious shift in Earth’s natural processes but rather decades of gas extraction from the nearby Groningen field, one of Europe’s largest natural gas reserves. This earthquake, though modest by global standards, represented the most powerful human-induced tremor in Dutch history and ultimately led to the shutdown of gas extraction operations in the region.
What makes this story particularly intriguing is that places like Groningen, Oklahoma, and India’s Deccan Plateau aren’t supposed to experience significant earthquakes at all. These regions sit far from tectonic plate boundaries where natural earthquakes typically occur. Their geological faults—fractures in Earth’s crust where rocks can slip past each other—are shallow and have remained inactive for millions of years. Over this extended period of dormancy, these faults have actually grown stronger through a process known as “frictional healing,” as earthquake physicist Ylona van Dinther of Utrecht University explains: “As they get stuck together, they get stronger. In the Netherlands, these faults haven’t moved for millions of years.”
Recent research published in Nature Communications reveals a troubling paradox: the very geological stability that has protected these regions from natural earthquakes has made them uniquely vulnerable to human-induced tremors. When human activities like gas extraction, mining, dam construction, or geothermal energy development disturb these long-dormant faults, they can trigger surprisingly powerful earthquakes. Van Dinther’s team discovered that as these stable faults heal over millions of years, they accumulate extraordinary strength. Human intervention can then push these reinforced faults past their breaking point, causing them to release their pent-up energy all at once in what scientists call “induced seismicity.”
The global distribution of these human-induced earthquakes presents a stark contrast to natural seismic patterns. While natural earthquakes predominantly occur along major tectonic boundaries, human-triggered tremors appear scattered across regions traditionally considered geologically quiet. Through computer simulations, researchers found that when previously undisturbed faults experience sudden stress—such as from gas extraction—they can withstand the pressure for decades before catastrophically releasing all their accumulated strength. In Groningen’s case, gas extraction began in the 1960s, but major earthquakes didn’t start occurring until approximately 35 years later, aligning with the timeframe predicted by these models.
Perhaps most concerning is that these human-induced earthquakes pose unique dangers to surface infrastructure. Because the faults are relatively shallow, the energy they release is felt more intensely at the surface than deeper natural earthquakes. Moreover, communities in these traditionally stable regions haven’t built their infrastructure to withstand seismic activity—their buildings lack the reinforcements common in earthquake-prone areas like California or Japan. This vulnerability extends beyond fossil fuel extraction to renewable energy development as well. In 2017, a geothermal energy project in Pohang, South Korea, triggered a devastating earthquake that forced authorities to abandon the project entirely.
As humanity transitions toward cleaner energy sources, the risk of induced seismicity remains significant. Geothermal energy, while renewable, still involves manipulating underground pressures that can activate dormant faults. Experts like geophysicist Daniel Faulkner of the University of Liverpool note that “a lot of the geothermal projects around the globe have been stopped by induced seismicity.” The challenge moving forward will be developing extraction methods that trigger slow, controlled movements along faults rather than sudden releases of accumulated strength. Van Dinther suggests carefully managing the rate and volume of fluid injection for geothermal projects, either through gradual ramping up or cyclical injection patterns.
The story of human-induced earthquakes serves as a powerful reminder of our capacity to influence geological processes once thought beyond our reach. It also highlights the importance of thorough risk assessment before undertaking major industrial projects in even the most geologically stable regions. As van Dinther emphasizes, “We should account for the effect of healing and strengthening in hazard assessment.” Only by respecting these ancient, sleeping faults—and understanding their potential to awaken—can we safely harness Earth’s resources without shaking its foundations.
