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Causal factors for seismicity near Azle, Texas.

ABSTRACT: In November 2013, a series of earthquakes began along a mapped ancient fault system near Azle, Texas. Here we assess whether it is plausible that human activity caused these earthquakes. Analysis of both lake and groundwater variations near Azle shows that no significant stress changes were associated with the shallow water table before or during the earthquake sequence. In contrast, pore-pressure models demonstrate that a combination of brine production and wastewater injection near the fault generated subsurface pressures sufficient to induce earthquakes on near-critically stressed faults. On the basis of modelling results and the absence of historical earthquakes near Azle, brine production combined with wastewater disposal represent the most likely cause of recent seismicity near Azle. For assessing the earthquake cause, our research underscores the necessity of monitoring subsurface wastewater formation pressures and monitoring earthquakes having magnitudes of ?M2 and greater. Currently, monitoring at these levels is not standard across Texas or the United States.

SUBMITTER: Hornbach MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4410634 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Causal factors for seismicity near Azle, Texas.

Hornbach Matthew J MJ DeShon Heather R HR Ellsworth William L WL Stump Brian W BW Hayward Chris C Frohlich Cliff C Oldham Harrison R HR Olson Jon E JE Magnani M Beatrice MB Brokaw Casey C Luetgert James H JH

Nature communications 20150421

In November 2013, a series of earthquakes began along a mapped ancient fault system near Azle, Texas. Here we assess whether it is plausible that human activity caused these earthquakes. Analysis of both lake and groundwater variations near Azle shows that no significant stress changes were associated with the shallow water table before or during the earthquake sequence. In contrast, pore-pressure models demonstrate that a combination of brine production and wastewater injection near the fault g ...[more]

PMID: 25898170

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Project description:BackgroundStructured Professional Judgement (SPJ) is routinely administered in mental health and criminal justice settings but cannot identify violence risk above moderate accuracy. There is no current evidence that violence can be prevented using SPJ. This may be explained by routine application of predictive instead of causal statistical models when standardising SPJ instruments.MethodsWe carried out a prospective cohort study of 409 male and female patients discharged from medium secure services in England and Wales to the community. Measures were taken at baseline (pre-discharge), 6 and 12 months post-discharge using the Historical, Clinical and Risk-20 items version 3 (HCR-20v3) and Structural Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF). Information on violence was obtained via the McArthur community violence instrument and the Police National Computer.ResultsIn a lagged model, HCR-20v3 and SAPROF items were poor predictors of violence. Eight items of the HCR-20v3 and 4 SAPROF items did not predict violent behaviour better than chance. In re-analyses considering temporal proximity of risk/ protective factors (exposure) on violence (outcome), risk was elevated due to violent ideation (OR 6.98, 95% CI 13.85-12.65, P<0.001), instability (OR 5.41, 95% CI 3.44-8.50, P<0.001), and poor coping/ stress (OR 8.35, 95% CI 4.21-16.57, P<0.001). All 3 risk factors were explanatory variables which drove the association with violent outcome. Self-control (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.08-0.24, P<0.001) conveyed protective effects and explained the association of other protective factors with violence.ConclusionsUsing two standardised SPJ instruments, predictive (lagged) methods could not identify risk and protective factors which must be targeted in interventions for discharged patients with severe mental illness. Predictive methods should be abandoned if the aim is to progress from risk assessment to effective risk management and replaced by methods which identify factors causally associated with violence.

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Causal factors for seismicity near Azle, Texas.

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Causal factors for seismicity near Azle, Texas.

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