A study with IMEDEA participation concludes that inadequate monitoring in Castor prevented anticipation of earthquakes
- The study proposes mechanisms to explain the earthquakes cause and why the worst occurred two weeks after the injection cessation
- The poor control of the system made it impossible to manage the induced seismicity and made it difficult to understand what had happened
Imagen del Proyecto Castor en Castejón / cortesía de Tjerk van der Meulen
Esporles, June 30, 2022. An interdisciplinary study from the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM), all belonging to the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), together with the Geosciences Institute of Rennes (France), has shown that insufficient monitoring in the Castor gas storage, in Castellón, Spain, prevented understanding what was happening and anticipating the earthquakes that ended with the closure of the project.
The study, published in the Nature Communications journal, shows that an inaccurate location of induced earthquakes and a lack of considering all the processes involved can jeopardize the development of future geo-energy projects. These, including geothermal energy, geological carbon storage, and underground hydrogen storage, have been identified as key to achieving decarbonisation and mitigating the effects of climate change.
“Having an adequate monitoring network and a protocol to manage induced seismicity is essential for the success of these projects”, explains the IDAEA researcher and one of the authors of the study, Jesús Carrera.
Since the seismographs located on the seafloor were not working, the gas injection in Castor should not have been carried out, since it was not possible to accurately locate the induced earthquakes in real-time and understand what was happening. The integration of the measurement network with physical processes is the key to the prediction and management of induced seismicity.
“It is necessary to reverse the damage that the Castor earthquakes caused to public perception, since without geoenergy projects, climate neutrality cannot be achieved. The combination of field measurements – injection flow, pressure and temperature evolution, deformations, induced seismicity – with models that take into account the relevant physical processes, could have made it possible to manage the earthquakes and have saved Castor”, points out Víctor Vilarrasa, IMEDEA and IDAEA researcher and co-author of the study.
Font: IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB)
More information:
- Vilarrasa, V., De Simone, S., Carrera, J. and Villaseñor, A., 2022. Multiple induced seismicity mechanisms at Castor underground gas storage illustrate the need for thorough monitoring. Nature Communications, 13, 3447
- A CSIC study concludes that inadequate monitoring in Castor prevented anticipation of the earthquakes (IDAEA)
- Un nou estudi conclou que el monitoratge inadequat a Castor va impedir anticipar-se als terratrèmols (ICM)
- Un estudi conclou que el monitoratge inadequat a Castor va impedir anticipar-se als terratrèmols (UIB)
- Un estudio del CSIC concluye que la monitorización inadecuada en Castor impidió anticiparse a los terremotos (CSIC Balears)
- Un estudio concluye que la monitorización "insuficiente" en el almacén Castor impidió anticiparse a los terremotos (Europa Press)
- Un estudio del CSIC concluye que la monitorización "insuficiente" en Castor impidió anticiparse a los terremotos (Gente digital)
- La monitorización inadecuada en Castor impidió anticiparse a los terremotos (Palmesana)
- La monitorización "insuficiente" en el almacén Castor impidió anticiparse a los terremotos (Levante EMV)
- La inadequada monitorització del projecte Castor va impedir anticipar els sismes (Racó Català)