Geothermal Exploration Makes Neighbors Tremble

Using the earth’s natural heat as an energy resource is a fine idea. But not necessarily for those who live near drilling sites, as people along the border between Germany, Switzerland and France are finding out.

Emergency services in and around the northern Swiss city of Basel were flooded with calls on Tuesday, as tremors measuring 3.2 in the Richter scale shook the region. It was the latest in series of small earthquakes over the past month caused by the Swiss Deep Heat Mining project.

The geothermal project, which was launched in 1996 under the auspices of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, involves drilling the country’s first exploratory borehole and injecting pressurized water more than 5000 meters (16,400 feet) underground.

But that has caused the earth to move in what is normally an area of geological calm.

Deutsche Welle