The occurrence of earthquakes induced by wastewater injection and hydraulic fracturing is well documented in areas of unconventional oil and gas development around the world.  In this talk I will describe how and why these earthquakes occur and outline the steps that can be taken to minimize the occurrence of such earthquakes.  One key step is identification of potentially problematic faults prior to fluid injection (or hydraulic fracturing) another is related to understanding how pressure diffusion and/or poroelastic stress transfer affects the likelihood of triggering fault slip.

This Colloquium is jointly sponsored by the NSERC/Energi Simulation Chair in Fundamental Rock Physics and Rock Mechanics