HA! Get it??

Over the past few days I’ve come across two different articles (randomly) with somewhat conflicting views.
Article 1 says: “geothermal drilling does not cause earthquakes”
Article 2 says: “oh crap, geothermal drilling’s going to cause California to become Earthquake City!”

According to article 1, geothermal drilling sometimes involves the deliberate fracturing of deep rock to provide a steady supply of heat to the earth. This is obviously different than an earthquake, which is the shaking caused by a shift in rock along a fault. However, seismic-similar incidents can be caused “whenever rocks are fractured.”

Article 2 notes the concerns of many Californians who are situated near a new geothermal drilling operation by AltaRock that will be starting up soon. This article also cites a geothermal operation in Switzerland that apparently triggered a 3.4 magnitude earthquake.

Article 1 responds to this alleged drilling-earthquake correlation by stating that yes, so-called “microearthquakes” can occur and are usually around or less than magnitude 3 and aren’t usually felt or considered dangerous.

So I guess the conclusion is that yes, geothermal drilling can cause earthquakes, but they’re small enough to not cause harm? It’s an interesting “conclusion,” but if I were a Californian near one of these sites, I’d probably still be a bit worried, considering how earthquake-prone the whole West Coast is.
Hmm.

Today’s song: Hey There Mr. by Leisure Alaska