Emerging challenges to the oil and gas industry from induced seismicity — An introduction to this special section: Injection-induced seismicity

The phenomenon of induced seismicity has been recognized for decades; however, it has commanded significant new attention in the last five years. This is particularly true as it is related to unconventional hydrocarbon recovery methods that are seeing increasingly wide use in the oil and gas industry. Early attention on the topic was brought into focus by a U. S. Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored study undertaken by the National Research Council (issued in 2012), well-attended SEG technical workshops, and interest from both the public and the press about the cause of earthquakes in areas that are unaccustomed to having them.