Report Claims that 2017 Pohang Earthquake Caused By Geothermal Energy Project

Another alternative energy project with unintended consequences:

South Korea’s second-most destructive earthquake, which struck the southeastern city of Pohang in 2017, was probably triggered by an experimental geothermal power plant, the government said Wednesday.
The government-led teams of experts, from both South Korea and abroad, concluded that a series of earthquakes, reaching a magnitude of 5.4 on Nov. 15, 2017, could have been brought on by efforts to harness energy from the ground.

The study is the first official government finding that indicated the possible cause of the tremors that resulted in considerable damage in and around the industrial city, located 375 kilometers southeast of Seoul. 
Fluids are injected at high pressure into a hole about four and five kilometers deep at the geothermal power plant, which may cause the surrounding rock to crack, the scientists said. During the process, seismic activity can occur, which could cause earthquakes.

“A series of micro-sized earthquakes occurred when fluids were injected by excavating a geothermal well at the geothermal power plant, which eventually triggered the Pohang earthquake,” Lee Kang-keun said

Yonhap

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