I personally don't see why this should be a surprise. I would be surprised if it never happened.
http://news.yahoo.com/deadly-spain-earthquake-triggered-groundwater-removal-170804500.html;_ylt=AoMYSZzRcZOahE3PQZaN19.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNsMWVhY3V2BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBGUARwa2cDYmU5OGM4OGItMzk1Yy0zYTYwLWI2MDMtOTJjYjBmY2ZjOWY4BHBvcwM1BHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzkwOWZmZjAxLTFiYTMtMTFlMi1iZjRiLTQ0NGMwYWMxNTk3ZQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3
By Becky Oskin, Oct. 21, 2012
Groundwater removal triggered the unusually shallow and deadly earthquake that hit Lorca, Spain, in 2011, according to a new study.
Scientists have known for decades that pumping water into the Earth can set off small earthquakes. But this is the first time that removing water has been identified as an earthquake trigger, researchers said. Both the size and the location of the quake were influenced by groundwater pumping, the study found.
"The fact that the very tiny stress changes due to normal processes, such as the extraction of groundwater, could have an effect on very large systems such as faults, that's very surprising," said Pablo González, lead study author and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
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