Science & Technology: Studying Energy of Earthquakes Could Help in Deep Geothermal Energy Exploration

Gaining insight into the energy balance of earthquakes (EPFL)

Researchers at Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)'s Computational Solid Mechanics Laboratory (LSMS) and the Weizmann Institute of Science have modeled the onset of slip between two bodies in frictional contact. Their work, a major step forward in the study of frictional rupture, could give us a better understanding of earthquakes—including how far and fast they travel.

These advances in fundamental research could one day be applied to more complex models, such as those representing conditions along tectonic faults, especially where fluids are naturally present or injected into the ground. "Today, several promising technologies in the context of the energy transition—like deep geothermal energy—relies on underground fluid injection. It is important to have a better understanding of how those injections affect seismic activity. I hope to use the tools developed during my Ph.D. to study that impact," says Fabian Barras, a doctoral assistant at EPFL’s Computational Solid Mechanics Laboratory.

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