SEASONAL RESERVOIR FILLING IN INDIA DEFORMS ROCKS, MAY TRIGGER EARTHQUAKES

• The seasonal filling and emptying of reservoirs in India can cause measurable deformation of the surrounding rock, reducing the strength of nearby faults and potentially triggering earthquakes.
• Researchers in India used global positioning system (GPS) observations along with satellite based radar data called InSAR to track the movement particularly the uplift and subsidence of rock layers around the reservoirs.
• Reservoir-triggered frequency is thought to be the result of shifting water levels in the reservoirs impounded behind the dams, which may increase stresses on faults by altering the stress and pore pressure in rocks along the fault. Reservoir filling accounts for 23 percent of the total number of earthquakes caused by human activity, according to the Human-Induced Earthquake Database.