Oil extraction may have triggered over 100 earthquakes in the UK
Earthquakes that occurred near an oil extraction site in Surrey, UK, in 2018 and 2019 had been put down to coincidence, but a new analysis with an updated look at the geology of the area suggests the seismic events may indeed have been linked to drilling
By Matthew Sparkes
10 January 2025
The Horse Hill oil site was discovered in 2015
Invicta Kent Media/Shutterstock
Over 100 earthquakes that shook the south of England are likely to have been triggered by oil extraction, say experts. Previous research had ruled out a link, but fresh information about the geology of the area has established a probable connection.
The earthquakes were all fairly minor, measuring between 1.34 and 3.18 on the Richter scale, and took place near Newdigate in Surrey in 2018 and 2019. Residents reported their houses shaking for several seconds.
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There was speculation at the time that the earthquakes were linked to oil extraction by UK Oil & Gas, although the epicentre of the earthquakes was between 5 kilometres and 10 kilometres from the company’s Horse Hill drilling site. But previous research by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and others determined that the earthquakes, while rare and relatively near to the drilling, were natural and coincidental.
Now, Matthew Fox and Philip Meredith at University College London have taken another look, using the latest understanding of the rock makeup of the area, and suggest that the earthquakes were indeed induced by oil extraction.
The pair ran more than a million computer simulations based on the location and magnitude of oil extraction, along with details of the geology of the surrounding area, and found that the predictions of earthquakes matched real events more closely than previously thought.
