We are concerned that China is paying insufficient attention to earthquakes that are induced by injecting huge volumes of waste water deep underground (see also Nature 520, 418–419; 2015).
Most of China's shale-gas resources lie near seismic fault zones. Wastewater injection by Chinese oil and gas industries has induced minor earthquakes in Sichuan, Chongqing, Xinjiang, Henan, Liaoning and Hubei — 6 of 13 provinces prioritized for shale-gas exploitation (see go.nature.com/uriceh; in Chinese). In Chongqing's Rongchang gas field, for example, 32,000 surface earthquakes were recorded between 1998 and 2006 (X. Lei et al. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 113, B10310; 2008).
Replacing coal with gas is central to China's plans to reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. We call for stricter regulation and tighter monitoring of its fracking industry to curb seismic activity and environmental pollution (see H. Yang et al. Nature 499, 154; 2013).
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Yang, H., Thompson, J. & Flower, R. Improve oversight of fracking in China. Nature 522, 34 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/522034b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/522034b