Earthquakes in the most unexpected places – it sounds like a plot twist in a disaster movie, but it’s a real and growing concern. Even regions far from tectonic plate boundaries, areas we’ve long considered stable, can suddenly shake with seismic activity. But here’s where it gets controversial: these quakes aren’t always natural. A groundbreaking study from Utrecht University, published in Nature Communications on October 15, 2025, reveals that dormant faults, silent for millions of years, can ‘heal’ and build up strength, only to release it in a single, induced earthquake when triggered by human activities like gas extraction or geothermal drilling. This challenges everything we thought we knew about seismic safety in stable regions.
Imagine faults as invisible scars beneath the Earth’s surface. Over time, these scars don’t just fade – they strengthen. Tiny mineral grains along the fault line bond and recrystallize, increasing friction and storing potential energy. This process, known as fault healing, can take millions of years. But when humans disrupt the delicate balance of underground pressures, that stored energy can be unleashed in a sudden, damaging quake. And this is the part most people miss: these quakes aren’t just rare anomalies – they’re occurring in places like Groningen, the Upper Rhine Valley, and Utah, regions where the ground was never supposed to move.
Dr. Ylona van Dinther, who led the Utrecht study, explains, ‘Faults in the shallow subsurface are usually stable, so we don’t expect shock movements along them.’ Yet, her team’s numerical models show that after roughly 30 million years of inactivity, a fault can gain enough strength to produce a significant earthquake when disturbed. This isn’t just a theoretical concern – it’s already happening. In Groningen, gas extraction triggered quakes up to magnitude 3.6, forcing costly home reinforcements and ultimately shutting down production.
But here’s the silver lining: these induced quakes are typically one-time events. Once a healed fault slips, it releases its stored energy and returns to a stable state, unlikely to cause another large quake for millions of years. However, this doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Because these regions lack seismic infrastructure, even moderate quakes can cause severe damage. The shaking is short but intense, affecting buildings, pipelines, and industrial facilities.
This raises a critical question: How can we balance energy needs with seismic safety? Projects like geothermal heat extraction, hydrogen storage, and CO2 sequestration all involve altering underground pressures, potentially reactivating ancient faults. Van Dinther emphasizes the need for detailed geological screening to assess fault healing and predict risks. Utrecht University is already developing models to forecast induced quakes and their impacts, aiming to make these projects safer.
The Earth’s crust, it turns out, is not as silent as we thought. It remembers its history, storing stress and energy in faults that can be awakened by human activity. This shifts our understanding of seismic hazards, forcing us to reconsider what ‘stable’ really means. It’s no longer enough to focus on tectonic boundaries – we must also account for the hidden potential of long-dormant faults.
So, what do you think? Are we doing enough to anticipate and mitigate these risks? Or are we underestimating the power of the Earth’s memory? Let’s discuss in the comments – this is one conversation that’s bound to shake things up.
