How has the Three Gorges Dam reservoir been linked to earthquakes?

The Three Gorges Dam reservoir has been widely linked to an increase in seismic activity in the surrounding region. Critics and some experts have long expressed concerns that the immense weight and pressure of the water impounded in the reservoir could trigger earthquakes and landslides in an area already known to be highly active seismically.12

This phenomenon is known as reservoir-induced seismicity. In general, the filling of large reservoirs can increase local seismicity when the added weight of the water creates pressure perturbations that trigger ruptures along existing faults that are already strained by regional tectonic forces. While the specific link between the Three Gorges reservoir and increased seismic events has been a subject of significant debate and concern, the project's reservoir is frequently blamed for the rise in the number of recorded landslides and earthquakes in the region.31