reading an Italian newspaper I just found out that there is a project running in Basel to get energy from the ground. The Italian article also mentioned that the project came to a stop as the digging caused several earthquakes. I also found this website in German about the project:
I've felt the earthquakes...and I understand that while geothermal power might be a great thing here, Basel has a history of quakes (half the city fell into the Rhein in the 1200s or 1300s) and because of the ones their drilling caused, they aren't doing it now.
Many years ago, sleeping in a fourth floor flat in Basel, I thought we were experiencing an earthquake. It was merely ta train running under the house!
Why aren't the Baslers happy about a few minor tremors? They're expecting the big one any day now, and it seems that this drilling would let some steam off the tectonic plates. Or would they rather that it all comes crashing through in one giant earthquake that flattens half the city?
I'm no seismologist, but I grew up in San Francisco and don't see what all the fuss is about. It's just a few little earthquakes. The more 3.0 tremors the better!
Well, I think it's a bigger deal because these were caused by man. A few natural tremors, OK. But such large quakes caused by human activity - that's got to stop!
First of all, 3.0 is a rather small earthquake. And next, what difference does it make if they were man-made or not? There's a whole lot of tension down there under the ground, and it's going to come out one way or another. It could be in little 1.0-3.0 man-made tremors, or in one long devastating 6.5+ natural quake. (Keeping in mind that the Richter scale is logarithmic.) It seems like getting upset about the earthquakes was in fact counterproductive.
At this point I would love to hear from someone who knows more about the science of this than I do. Is there a real danger from these little man-made earthquakes? Could they set off "the big one," for example? Or was the public outrage over a little jolt with no injuries just a knee-jerk reaction against a good project?
T he authorities in canton Basel City say they will cancel a geothermal energy project, which three years ago caused minor tremors that damaged many buildings.
A risk analysis study published on Thursday found that the danger of setting off more earthquakes was too great if drilling at the site resumed.
The project was put on hold three years ago after thousands of claims for damage were filed with insurers. Total costs for the damage were around SFr9 million ($8.78 million).
Funny though. A few years before then there was a natural earthquake that was considerably stronger, that didn't cause any damage at all. It seems the amount of damage is directly related to the ability to blame it on someone..
I know one lady who claimed for a cracked patio. The crack had been there for years.
Heh, true on the damages. But there was a huge difference between those earthquakes. Any natural ones we've had, my husband and I both either didn't notice or said "hmm, did you notice that?" and the other would say no. The geothermal quake had us both hurrying to find each other wondering WTF that was. You could both hear and feel it.