preventing big earthquakes

[gusl]

This document contains what sounds like a crackpot idea: causing small earthquakes in order to prevent large ones. I am not an expert, but their logic seems sensible, so for all I know it might work.

My understanding is that earthquakes happen when two tectonic plates are moving towards each other, and the pressure buildup causes slippage between the (hard) sides of the fault.

I can imagine potential solutions falling into 3 categories:
* release the pressure more gently (e.g. more often), perhaps causing smaller earthquakes. The above idea is an example of this.
* prevent slippage, e.g. by filling faults with hard material
* dampen the slippage, like the above, but using softer material.

Comments

[the-locster.livejournal.com]

Or even create a large and inevitavble earthquake but at a known time, such that everyone can evacuate and clean up the damage afterwards. Logically sound, but highly unpallatble politically.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

A variation on the first idea: add lubricant to cause the pressure to be released smoothly and continuously.

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

Been there, done that, caused a political uproar.

One problem with the lubrication idea is that you may end up causing a small earthquake or slow creep that moves stress elsewhere and triggers a huge earthquake.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

how can Colorado have faults if it's far from the boundary between tectonic plates?

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

The mountains pretty loudly demonstrate that the crust over there is not in a stable state.

Even the midwest has faults; the New Madrid fault is among the most dangerous in the US because there isn't much earthquake-proof construction around it; last time it went, it moved the Mississippi river. The Kentucky-Indiana border is set to the old riverbed, so there's a chunk of KY that is only accessible via IN (hardly anybody lives there, so it's not worth building a bridge). I'm not sure what causes stress along that fault.

Around the Manicouagan reservoir, there are earthquakes linked to settling from the original impact event ~215 Mya. The Appalachian range still rumbles occasionally.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

ok... but it's odd they have such big mountains, since it's not near a faultline.

This is relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraplate_earthquakes