Introduction to this special section: Induced seismicity

In the last several years, significant progress has been made in elevating the understanding of induced seismicity as it relates to oil and gas operations. Much of the initial work in response to increased anthropogenic seismicity in the United States and Canada that began in 2009 served to document the phenomena and provide the link between the effect and the potential causes. We are now entering a second phase of research in which work is being done on many fronts — some assessing early models and assumptions on earthquake triggering, others testing potential practical risk mitigation tools, and a few documenting case histories that are beginning to shine a light on the details of the processes.