Subsequent projects

Existing fault zone structures can provide a hydraulic conduit for fluid flow and pore pressure changes at depth, which can reduce fault strength and hence increase earthquake hazard. Between 2008 and 2012, a series of shallow earthquakes near Munich, Germany were suspected to be induced by the operation of a geothermal power plant. This poses a new type of seismic hazard in a traditionally low seismic hazard region. Detailed analysis indicates that the earthquakes can be associated to existing fault zones pierced
by the geothermal well. However, the relation between hydraulic properties in fault zones and the potential of inducing earthquakes is largely unknown. We will study the effect of fluid content and permeability of fault zones on the likelihood of earthquake initiation and on the maximum expected earthquake size using physics-based earthquake simulations. To this end, we will employ the now optimized and extended computational methods for high-performance computing at LMU to investigate the interaction between the sizes of the fault zones and the fluid flow in the medium.