Activating a Natural Fault Zone in the Swiss Alps

One major hurdle for understanding earthquake mechanics are observational limitations. Important phenomena like strain localisation, fault dilation, and fault healing are readily studied in rock mechanical laboratory experiments and with numerical models. At the scale of natural earthquakes, however, these phenomena are often unresolvable, even by state-of-the-art observatories. To overcome this limitation, we are currently building the Earthquake Physics Testbed at the Bedretto Underground Laboratory for Geosciences and Geoenergies (BedrettoLab), an experimental testbed where we can activate an extensively instrumented natural fault zone via hydraulic stimulation. The goal of the Fault Activation and Earthquake Rupture (FEAR) project is to induce earthquakes of up to Mw~1.0 on this exceptionally well characterised and instrumented fault zone. Here we summarize the main scientific goals and current FEAR project status, and present first results from conducted experiments. We discuss how this large-scale experimental approach may allow us to tackle both fundamental science as well as practical questions on earthquake physics, induced seismicity and seismic hazard.

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Publication Details

Journal
Seismica
Published
2026-02-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v5i1.2065
Citations
1
Primary Topic
earthquake and tectonic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
54.75

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Activating a Natural Fault Zone in the Swiss Alps

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earthquake and tectonic studies
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Activating a Natural Fault Zone in the Swiss Alps

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article en
1 citations

Abstract

One major hurdle for understanding earthquake mechanics are observational limitations. Important phenomena like strain localisation, fault dilation, and fault healing are readily studied in rock mechanical laboratory experiments and with numerical models. At the scale of natural earthquakes, however, these phenomena are often unresolvable, even by state-of-the-art observatories. To overcome this limitation, we are currently building the Earthquake Physics Testbed at the Bedretto Underground Laboratory for Geosciences and Geoenergies (BedrettoLab), an experimental testbed where we can activate an extensively instrumented natural fault zone via hydraulic stimulation. The goal of the Fault Activation and Earthquake Rupture (FEAR) project is to induce earthquakes of up to Mw~1.0 on this exceptionally well characterised and instrumented fault zone. Here we summarize the main scientific goals and current FEAR project status, and present first results from conducted experiments. We discuss how this large-scale experimental approach may allow us to tackle both fundamental science as well as practical questions on earthquake physics, induced seismicity and seismic hazard.

SeismicaVol. 5(1)
University of Padua (IT), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), Nanyang Technological University (SG), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (IT), ETH Zurich (CH), Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geotechnologies IEG (DE), Kerckhoff Klinik (DE), Géoazur (FR), University of Neuchâtel (CH), Sapienza University of Rome (IT), RWTH Aachen University (DE)
National Science Foundation, European Commission, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
earthquake and tectonic studies
54.75
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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