Is/could it be possible to manufacture an earthquake?

Black-Tooth · Feb 14, 2012

Is it or could it be possible to manufacture an earthquake? Perhaps not the landasses grinding together, but the tremors and cracks in the landscape? If so, on what sort of scale?

And I men with out, say, dropping a bomb it something. Could you have n earthquake machine?

Cyia · Feb 14, 2012

Extreme frequency sound waves can cause tremors (and have, especially under water). One of the reasons that supersonic flights are forbidden over residential areas is because of the damage the shockwave can cause to personal property. (In my grandfather's house, there were cracks in the windows from early flights.)

By playing with the frequency, you can do some really nasty things with focused sound.

Puma · Feb 14, 2012

In Northeastern Ohio there have been some recent earthquakes that are being blamed on injection wells in the vicinity. You should be able to find some articles about them by googling. If you alter the underground structure by adding fluids or removing fluids, it seems logical that the subsurface would respond by movement. Puma

RemusShepherd · Feb 14, 2012

Black-Tooth said:
Is it or could it be possible to manufacture an earthquake? Perhaps not the landasses grinding together, but the tremors and cracks in the landscape? If so, on what sort of scale?

And I men with out, say, dropping a bomb it something. Could you have n earthquake machine?

Tesla famously created a machine that used a hammer to tap on a wall at regular intervals, and it tore the building down through resonant vibrations. Resonance is a powerful trick. It's caused several bridge collapses -- search for 'Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse' for a good example.

You might be able to create a small, localized earthquake using resonant vibrations. But it would be difficult to make that believable in a hard sci-fi novel. You'd have to find the precise resonant frequency of the Earth's crust, then apply enough power for long enough to build up your vibrations. But if you're not writing hard science fiction, go for it. (I've used it myself in a soft sci-fi novel.)

robjvargas · Feb 14, 2012

Cyia said:
Extreme frequency sound waves can cause tremors (and have, especially under water). One of the reasons that supersonic flights are forbidden over residential areas is because of the damage the shockwave can cause to personal property. (In my grandfather's house, there were cracks in the windows from early flights.)

By playing with the frequency, you can do some really nasty things with focused sound.

Wasn't there a bad science fiction movie along these lines? A superweapon in Alaska, the testing caused the Earth's core to slow down, lessening the Earth's magnetic field and permitting dangerous bursts of solar radiation.

Ah yes, The Core.

Anyway, the superweapon was a sound-based earthquake generator.

boron · Feb 14, 2012

Digging a hole for a new building or underground garage with heavy machinery may cause cracks in the nearby buildings.

Prolonged raining may trigger an avalanche, which may leave cracks in the ground behind it or destroys a village lying beneath by falling rocks.

An active or inactive mine can collapse.

A huge sinkhole, 330 feet deep in the middle of a road in Guatemala. Had something with a storm and a sewaga canal...

Buffysquirrel · Feb 14, 2012

Almost certainly. Obviously this would work better along fault lines, but I would imagine that injecting gas or liquid into the fault could cause a violent reaction.

WriteKnight · Feb 14, 2012

"Fracking" is the process of injecting fluids into the ground, to 'break' the rock, releasing more oil and gas. Very controversial, as one of the side effects IS earthquakes. Google it for more information than you care to read.

shaldna · Feb 14, 2012

Fracking.

It's a MAJOR issue here at the minute, esp in the Department I work in.

Controversial doesn't even being to cover it, TBH.

AVS · Feb 14, 2012

In a SF novel, I don't see why not. It's reasonable to posit that in the near future we will be able to detect maximum stress points on known faults in the Earth's crust. This would be the point at which the pressure is so great it is ready to shift. Theoretically a very small explosion, or indeed resonance, in the fault at the right time would be the last grain of sand, the straw that broke the camel's back, the last tango in Paris, the... Ahem, yes well hopefully you get my (continental) drift man.

Cyia · Feb 14, 2012

shaldna said:
Fracking.

It's a MAJOR issue here at the minute, esp in the Department I work in.

Controversial doesn't even being to cover it, TBH.

Ditto this. North Texas has had a cluster of smallish tremors in the last year, as have a spate of other places where quakes are either uncommon or unheard of.

ironmikezero · Feb 14, 2012

Cyia said:
Ditto this. North Texas has had a cluster of smallish tremors in the last year, as have a spate of other places where quakes are either uncommon or unheard of.

+2 Another vote for Fracking...

This may turn out to be far more serious than the oil & gas industry will ever admit. There may be some major denial going on with respect to the potential long term consequences (especially regarding ground water contamination and the proliferation of fracking related tremors and the proximity to known fault lines).

You may want to look into the controversies surrounding the Barnett Shale and the Haynesville Shale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Shale

http://dnr.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=442

http://ezinearticles.com/?Potential...uring-Throughout-Haynesville-Shale&id=6791331

There's plenty to find if your google-fu is up to it.

blacbird · Feb 14, 2012

In addition to the fracking issue, some years ago the Denver, CO area had a series of quakes strong enough to cause some structural damage that were proved conclusively to have been generated by a nearby military facility injecting waste into a fault zone, which lubricated and reactivated it.

caw

Maryn · Feb 14, 2012

I'm blanking on the title, but I've read a thriller at least 15 to 20 years old in which terrorists threaten the US with earthquakes caused by a large but mobile earthquake machine. They induce two to prove they can do it, too. Of course, it got boring when an intrepid hero was the only man qualified to seek out and destroy them. Come on, government, send a bunch of your best people, not just one man.

Maryn, who likes a good thriller

Snick · Feb 14, 2012

Frcking i just one way the people have caused tremors. There have been earthquakes set off by mine collapses,and in Indonesis there have been a number of earthquakes and amybe a volcano started by mining activity. Regardless of how you plan to use it, it probably wll work, unless you get silly.

debirlfan · Feb 14, 2012

shaldna said:
Fracking.

It's a MAJOR issue here at the minute, esp in the Department I work in.

Controversial doesn't even being to cover it, TBH.

When you read about the principle and what is involved, it doesn't even SOUND like a good idea.

The folks who are running around screaming about global warming/climate change really ought to be paying more attention to the fracking.

Xelebes · Feb 14, 2012

Some surface construction equipment can produce localised earthquakes, depending on soil. During Edmonton's South LRT expansion, a lot of the grading equipment managed to produce enough resonance to cause significant damage to nearby houses, resulting in several damage claims thrown at the City of Edmonton. What happened was the equipment produced enough amplitude at the right frequency to cause minor liquefication of the soil outside of the compacting, resulting in significant waves being transmitted towards neighbouring houses.

Due to these issues, I believe the City of Edmonton has changed construction methods for the North LRT expansion, using more seismographs to monitor the stability of the soil they are working on.

Chazevelt · Feb 16, 2012

Yes, I live in the area you mention and we've had several quakes due to fracking. Fracking; cool word to utilize.

MeretSeger · Feb 16, 2012

I swear, the only people who would think of earthquakes as a little side effect have never been in a whopper. What happens if they trigger a big one? It's like a real life bad sci-fi unfolding right in front of us, or under some of us...Unleash the Frackin'?

Mac H. · Feb 16, 2012

RemusShepherd said:
Tesla famously created a machine that used a hammer to tap on a wall at regular intervals, and it tore the building down through resonant vibrations.

This is a popular myth - but it doesn't appear to be true.

There are no accounts at the time of the building being damaged - but every time the story of his resonance machine is retold the effects get bigger and bigger ... so later stories talk about the building being torn down!

If you are looking for fiction examples - the plot device was used in one of the 'Oceans 11-13' films...

Mac

Snick · Feb 17, 2012

MeretSeger said:
I swear, the only people who would think of earthquakes as a little side effect have never been in a whopper. What happens if they trigger a big one? It's like a real life bad sci-fi unfolding right in front of us, or under some of us...Unleash the Frackin'?

There have been some suggestions that the increase in activity in the New Madrid fault is from human activity. I think that
s outside the area where they are fracking, but there are other things. Some people think that the North American Plate is going to open at the new Madrid fault and create a new ocean, but it will take a while.

Is/could it be possible to manufacture an earthquake?

Black-Tooth

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Puma

Retired and loving it!

RemusShepherd

robjvargas

boron

Health writer

Buffysquirrel

WriteKnight

Arranger Of Disorder

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

AVS

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

ironmikezero

practical experience, FTW

blacbird

Maryn

I Tried

Snick

debirlfan

Xelebes

Delerium ex Ennui

Chazevelt

MeretSeger

The Alydar of Writers

Mac H.

Board Visitor

Snick