Lorca Earthquake

Scientists have been studying the cause of an earthquake that took place in the Spanish city of Lorca in 2011. This particular earthquake wasn’t very large, only a 5.1 magnitude quake. It took place at a depth of only 3 km which in turn caused a lot of damage and killed nine people. What scientists found after examining satellite radar data was that the slippage of the fault took place at a location where the water table, which is located next to a large water basin,  had been dropped over 250m over the last 50 years due to drilling and irrigation.  Scientists said that this is a seismically active region and earthquakes are bound to happen regardless, however the draining of the water sped up the process, created stresses on the fault and initially triggered the earthquake and defined its magnitude.  

Scientists say that seismic activity that has been triggered by human activity that are located near faults have been documented over the years. Other forms of activities that take place to trigger earthquakes include the impoundment of reservoir lakes, hydrocarbon extraction, quarrying and deep well injections. Scientist hope to be able to tame natural faults through geoengineering if they are able to understand how stresses from human activity contribute to seismic events. 

This image shows damage that took place from the 5.1 magnitude earthquake in Lorca on May 12, 2011

Article Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20025807
Image Source: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52671000/jpg/_52671579_jex_1043138_de27-1.jpg