Abstract:
Anthropogenic Seismicity is regularly generated around injection wells, among other those used during stimulation tests in deep geothermal power plants. In the urban area of Strasbourg, several earthquakes of magnitude exceeding 2.5 have happened during or after such operations, with injection and extraction in faults in the granitic basement, around 5 in depth. The last Earthquake had a magnitude around MLv 3.9, on June 27th, 2021, as documented by the ReNASS in Strasbourg. Two clusters of seismicity have been active by periods since the start of the operations of the geothermal plant located in Reichstett, ~10 km north from the city center. One of these clusters is located around the injection and production wells, the other one is 5 km south from it, in the Strasbourg quarter “La Robertsau. We will investigate the geometry of the injection wells and the faults in the area, their tectonic context, their stability and pressure perturbation models associated to the plant operations, giving hints on the origin of this anthropogenic seismicity. We will also discuss alternative scenarios and recommendations of injection regimes to prevent such seismicity.
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