Read Cuadrilla's Geomechanical Study of Bowland Shale Seismicity following Fylde Earthquakes

Report here: Cuadrilla's Geomechanical Study of Bowland Shale Seismicity following Fylde Earthquakes

"This report was commissioned by Cuadrilla Resources Ltd in June 2011 to study the relationship
between Cuadrilla’s operations and two small earthquakes that occurred near the Preese Hall
wellsite in Lancashire, UK.

This synthesis report utilizes independent technical reports prepared by
Seismik (lead investigator Dr. Leo Eisner), Q-con (lead investigator Dr. Stefan Baisch), Geosphere
(Dr. Tim Harper), StrataGen (lead investigator Dr. C.J. de Pater) and Baker-GMI (lead investigator
R. Guises).

Well data and technical information was provided by Cuadrilla Resources."

Important citations from this report are:

The seismic events observed after two treatments in the Preese Hall well are therefore quite exceptional. Two events reported by BGS (magnitudes 2.3 and 1.5) and 48 much weaker events have been detected, and it is therefore hard to dismiss them as an isolated incident. The observed events are already 2 orders of magnitude stronger than normally observed from hydraulic fracturing induced seismicity and if future stimulation treatments again induce seismicity, it is imperative that the maximum magnitude can be estimated. It only appears feasible to establish an upper bound on the seismic magnitude if the estimation of that bound can be based on a clear understanding of the mechanism behind the past events.