Chiara Sabelli

Residency project

To understand earthquakes, scientists are learning how to trigger them

I will spend my residency at ETH Zürich with the Seismology and Geophysics research group, focusing on the Fault Activation and Earthquake Rupture (FEAR) experiment at the Bedretto Lab.

The lab is located inside a five-kilometre-long railway service tunnel beneath the Gotthard massif, under nearly 1’500 metres of granitic rock. Researchers aim to reactivate faults by injecting highly pressurised water through boreholes drilled on purpose, triggering small earthquakes while recording seismic waves, fluid pressure, rock deformation, and temperature. A dense monitoring network allows them to observe earthquake rupture at very close range and understand whether any precursory signals can be detected. The experiments will also explore how water injection affects seismicity, a relationship that is crucial for the safe exploitation of geothermal energy fields.

My journalistic project will revolve around two questions: can we ever predict earthquakes, and what kind of monitoring would that require? And what happens to a place and its people when a frontier-science experiment is established there? The Bedretto Lab lies in a quiet, relatively isolated valley in Ticino. I want to understand how local residents weigh the benefits and risks of such an experiment.