Chinese reservoir filling and earthquake could be connected

Nature : After a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in China killed more than 600 people on 3 August, questions were raised about a possible connection between the earthquake and the filling of two new reservoirs created by the building of dams on the Yangtze River. Now, Fan Xiao of the Sichuan Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in Chengdu has released an analysis that appears to confirm that suspicion. Using seismic data from 2010 to 2014, Fan noted an increase in seismic activity beginning in late 2012, which corresponds with the filling of the two reservoirs. However, the analysis is based on crude seismic data, the only public information available, so the connection is tentative at best. Fan had previously raised the possibility of a similar connection between reservoir filling and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed more than 70 000. Whether the quakes were caused by the dams remains uncertain, but with continuing construction of new dams along the length of the Yangtze, Fan says it may be wise to add extra reinforcement to prepare them for a potential increase in seismic activity.