Does Dams Cause Earthquakes?

Earthquakes can be induced by dams. Globally, there are over 100 identified cases of earthquakes that scientists believe were triggered by reservoirs (see Gupta 2002).

Is there any relation between dam and earthquake?

Dams by itself do not cause any earthquake. The purpose of any dam is to impound the flowing water. This leads to formation of reservoir in which a large portion of land is submerged along with the river course on which the dam is made. This leads to increase in the pore-water-pressure of that area.

How dams in earthquake prone areas can actually cause earthquakes?

Earthquakes represent multiple hazards with the following features in the case of a storage dam: ground shaking causes vibrations and structural distortions in dams, appurtenant structures and equipment, and their foundations; fault movements in the dam foundation or discontinuities in dam foundation near major faults ...