The
Human-Induced Earthquake Database is the largest record anywhere of seismic events caused by human activity such as mining, drilling, fracking, groundwater extraction, oil recovery, nuclear testing, gas storage and even putting up tall buildings. Any activity that penetrates the surface of the Planet significantly can undermine the structure of inner-Earth, and often does, with 728 cases of human induced earthquakes in recent history identified so far. The impact of the interventions applies to the sea bed as well as land, and it could be that the erection of giant marine turbines will prove to be as destabilising to the environment as drilling for oil.
It makes sense, doesn’t it? The layers below the crust of the Earth are of a perfect formation for the protection and well-being of the Planet: Her organs, her blood are held there and her heart beats within; she is able to regulate her temperature and her needs better than anyone.
We see her skin and her hair in the trees and the desert, and her fruits give us human life. The apple tree dies if its roots are disturbed and its nourishment removed, and so it is with Earth. As we dig and drill and extract her minerals for our pleasure, we fail to remember that by so doing we are threatening our own future as well as her stability.
The respected HiQuake project proves how far we are responsible for earthquakes, flooding from exposed underground seas, and sink holes, and it may be that our actions will contribute to the unpredictable movement of the Earth tectonic plates too. We must learn to tread lightly upon Earth, as our ancestors did when they walked with solemn awe upon the lands they saw as sacred: the alternative is disastrous.
[byline]]]>