It Looks Like a Movie, but It’s Science: Researchers Create Controlled Earthquakes to Understand Why Some Tremors Become Catastrophes While Others Stop Short

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 05/01/2026 at 21:15

Cientistas provocam terremotos controlados sob os Alpes para estudar falhas geológicas e identificar sinais prévios de grandes abalos sísmicos.

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Researchers from the FEAR Project Conduct Unprecedented Experiments in a Deep Tunnel Beneath the Alps, Injecting Water and Monitoring Geological Faults with Thousands of Sensors to Induce Controlled Earthquakes, Measure Physical Parameters, and Attempt to Identify Signals That Precede Natural Shakes of Different Magnitudes

Scientists from the FEAR Project induce controlled earthquakes from a deep tunnel beneath the Alps, on the border between Switzerland and Italy, to identify precursory signals, measure physical parameters, and estimate magnitudes before natural ruptures occur.

Research Seeks Signals Before an Earthquake Occurs

Researchers still do not understand the immediate triggers of earthquakes or why some ruptures remain small while others extend for kilometers. Today, events are analyzed after they occur. According to Domenico Giardini, this limitation hinders the identification of clear signals before the tremors.

The central question guides the work: what signals does nature send before an earthquake? These signals often become evident only after the event.

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Alps Provide Natural Conditions for Controlled Testing

The Alps, on the border between Switzerland and Italy, are home to deep networks of faults formed over millions of years of tectonics.

The compressive force of the mountains is sufficient to fracture rocks between 1 and 2 kilometers below the surface, creating a conducive environment for small landslides.

These landslides generate tremors that are usually small.

By utilizing a pre-existing tunnel previously used in a railway project, the FEAR Project approached one of these faults to conduct direct experiments underground.

Water Injection Induces Tremors on a Set Schedule

The team pumps water into the fault to reduce friction and induce earthquakes at planned times.

According to Giardini, these events would occur naturally sooner or later in the history of the Alps, but this method ensures they happen on specific dates.

The process is similar to wastewater injection associated with oil and gas activities in regions with geological faults, such as Oklahoma and Texas. The water lubricates the fault and facilitates rupture.

Dense Instrumentation Measures Fault Responses

The key difference in the experiment is the instrumentation.

The project installed a dense network of seismographs and accelerometers directly on the fault, allowing for accurate measurements of how it responds to reduced friction and how the rupture propagates.

So far, the team has induced hundreds of thousands of earthquakes of up to zero magnitude. Since the scale is logarithmic and nonlinear, very small events can occur, including negative magnitudes, without causing damage.

Next Phases Include Hot Water and Higher Magnitudes

Next week, researchers will begin injecting hot water to observe how temperature affects the evolution of an earthquake. In March, the team plans to induce tremors of up to magnitude 1, expanding the observed range.

The goal is to identify which parameters trigger earthquakes of different magnitudes. If it is possible to induce tremors of specific magnitudes, the team hopes to measure hazardous faults in the real world and calculate the stress needed for future ruptures.

Applications for Active Faults in the Real World

Giardini cites a strong earthquake that occurred in February 2023 on the border between Turkey and Syria. The fault will continue to shift south and north, raising questions about the magnitude of the next event.

According to the researcher, parameters such as the amount of stress on the rocks outside the fault are already proving to be important.

The team is also beginning to better understand how earthquakes propagate from one fault to another nearby, observing patterns in the subsurface that are similar to real nature, even when some events occur at a minimal scale.

It Looks Like a Movie, but It’s Science: Researchers Create Controlled Earthquakes to Understand Why Some Tremors Become Catastrophes While Others Stop Short

Research Seeks Signals Before an Earthquake Occurs

Alps Provide Natural Conditions for Controlled Testing

Water Injection Induces Tremors on a Set Schedule

Dense Instrumentation Measures Fault Responses

Next Phases Include Hot Water and Higher Magnitudes

Applications for Active Faults in the Real World

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It Looks Like a Movie, but It’s Science: Researchers Create Controlled Earthquakes to Understand Why Some Tremors Become Catastrophes While Others Stop Short

Research Seeks Signals Before an Earthquake Occurs

Alps Provide Natural Conditions for Controlled Testing

Water Injection Induces Tremors on a Set Schedule

Dense Instrumentation Measures Fault Responses

Next Phases Include Hot Water and Higher Magnitudes

Applications for Active Faults in the Real World

While an average building in London or New York takes three years to be completed, in China a 26-story tower went up in five days with about 100 workers, and the global modular construction market already moves US$ 95 billion per year.

Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

While cities spend fortunes patching potholes and tons of plastic become waste, the Netherlands transforms over 218,000 recycled cups into a modular bike path that can conceal drainage, cables, and pipes.

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Goodbye traditional washing machine: Panasonic surprises housewives with the NA-G5 featuring four drums, a 13 kg washer and dryer, a 12 kg dryer, independent mini washers, a heat pump, and a 4-in-1 system awarded at the German Design Award.

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