Earthquake and Geothermal Energy

Abstract

The origin of earthquake has long been recognized as resulting from strike-slip instability of plate tectonics along the fault lines. Several events of earthquake around the globe have happened which cannot be explained by this theory. In this work we investigated the earthquake data along with other observed facts like heat flow profiles etc... of the Indian subcontinent. In our studies we found a high-quality correlation between the earthquake events, seismic prone zones, heat flow regions and the geothermal hot springs. As a consequence, we proposed a hypothesis which can adequately explain all the earthquake events around the globe as well as the overall geo-dynamics. It is basically the geothermal power, which makes the plates to stand still, strike and slip over. The plates are merely a working solid while the driving force is the geothermal energy. The violent flow and enormous pressure of this power shake the earth along the plate boundaries and also triggers the intra-plate seismicity. In the light of the results reported by the California Energy Commission from the ongoing geothermal power project at the Big Geysers in California, we further propounded that by harnessing the surplus geothermal energy the intensity and risk of the impending earthquakes can be substantially reduced.