Investigation of possible induced seismicity due to wastewater disposal in the Delaware Basin, Dagger Draw Field, New Mexico-Texas, USA

Since the 1960s, numerous cases of induced seismicity have been associated with reservoir impoundment, mining and the injection of fluids into the subsurface [National Resources Council, 2012]. In recent years, fluid injection activities have intensified as a result of growing shale gas production, enhanced oil recovery, disposal of produced waters in dedicated injection wells, enhanced geothermal systems operations, as well as carbon dioxide sequestration. In addition to a rise in the volume of fluid injection, a documented increase in the rate of M3.0 and greater earthquakes in the US has been observed in the midcontinent since 2001 [Ellsworth et al., 2013]. Many of these earthquakes occurred near areas of wastewater disposal in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. This study seeks to connect a swarm of recent earthquakes in the Delaware Basin which straddles the New Mexico-Texas border. Using a match filter, I construct a template from previously observed earthquakes. My results expanded existing catalogs in the region by a factor of 1.5. The updated catalog supports the spatial and temporal connection between earthquakes and injection activity.