In the south-east of England, in the county of Surrey, an oil extraction site would have been responsible for the appearance of more than 100 earthquakes in the region between 2018 and 2019. This is what highlights a recent study, carried out by researchers from theUniversity College Londonpublished on January 10, 2025 in the journal Geological Magazine.
Harmless earthquakes
If large earthquakes had been felt across the Channel you would have been aware of this, yet the small earthquakes that were recorded between 2018 and 2019 in the county of Surrey were of magnitude between 1.34 and 3.18.
In other words, based on what we can read on the Canadian government website, although the earthquakes were able to be captured by seismographs, they were barely felt by the population. Although there have been reports of beds shaking on some occasions.
On the other hand, although they are not very powerful, there has been some damage observed on houses with some cracks in the walls or ceilings around the oil extraction site.
It wouldn't be a simple coincidence… but
Before the study was released on January 10, 2025, some geologists were skeptical about the relationship between the oil extraction site and the occurrence of these earthquakes. Some saw it as a simple coincidence without a causal link.
Indeed, as reported PhysOrgresearchers had highlighted the fact that certain periods of intense oil extraction were not followed by greater seismic activity in response. However, the authors of the study conducted a million simulations and their conclusion would make it possible to establish a link between the two phenomena without excluding coincidence.
“Our study suggests there is a link between earthquakes and oil extraction at Horse Hill [ndr, site d’extraction situé dans le Surrey], but we cannot exclude that it is a coincidence. Further work is needed to understand whether this is a cause and effect relationship. However, our results indicate that it is plausible that oil extraction triggered the earthquakes.” says Dr. Matthew Fox, planetary scientist at UCL and lead author of the study.
A site shut down since October 2024
Indeed, since October 2024, the site which would be responsible for the occurrence of more than a hundred earthquakes between 2018 and 2019 has stopped its extraction activities. But it's not because of earthquakes.
A court ruling by the British Supreme Court found that the Horse Hill site and the county of Surrey failed to take into account the environmental impact of mining, refining and processing. oil exploitation in the region. In fact, the site was legally closed.
Source : PhysOrg
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