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Earthquakes

Human-induced shaking

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 763–764 (2012)Cite this article

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In 2011, a modest earthquake in southern Spain seriously damaged the city of Lorca. Analysis of surface deformation suggests that the quake was caused by rupture of a shallow fault patch brought closer to failure by the pumping of water from a nearby aquifer.

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Figure 1: The May 2011 Mw 5.1 Lorca earthquake.

© JUAN CARLOS CARDENAS/EPA/CORBIS

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jean-Philippe Avouac is in the Department of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA,

    Jean-Philippe Avouac

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  1. Jean-Philippe Avouac
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Correspondence to Jean-Philippe Avouac.

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Avouac, JP. Human-induced shaking. Nature Geosci 5, 763–764 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1609

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