Shemin Ge Jonathan W. Godt Barbara A. Bekins Justin L. Rubinstein Matthew Weingarten 2015 <p>An unprecedented increase in earthquakes in the U.S. mid-continent began in 2009. Many of these earthquakes have been documented as induced by wastewater injection. We examine the relationship between wastewater injection and U.S. mid-continent seismicity using a newly assembled injection well database for the central and eastern United States. We find that the entire increase in earthquake rate is associated with fluid injection wells. High-rate injection wells (&gt;300,000 barrels per month) are much more likely to be associated with earthquakes than lower-rate wells. At the scale of our study, a well&rsquo;s cumulative injected volume, monthly wellhead pressure, depth, and proximity to crystalline basement do not strongly correlate with earthquake association. Managing injection rates may be a useful tool to minimize the likelihood of induced earthquakes.</p> application/pdf 10.1126/science.aab1345 en AAAS High-rate injection is associated with the increase in U.S. mid-continent seismicity article