Earthquakes: Why your phone shouldn’t cost the earth

In the final episode of this series of the AXA Research Files, science presenter Greg Foot travels to the mountains of California and uncovers how the mining of the rare earth minerals that go into our mobile phones and tablets increases the chance of earthquakes.

1 minute

There are 17 rare earth metals in the world, and 16 of them are used in mobile phones. The mining of these minerals, through the injection of high-pressure wastewater, puts existing earthquake faults under more pressure, and ultimately causes more earthquakes. The largest one linked to mining activities happened in Siberia in 2013, registering 6.1.

Along the way, Greg has met AXA-supported researchers Kerry Sieh, from Nanyang Technological University, Thomas Chartier from Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) and Georgios Michas, from the School of Applied Science Technological Educational Institute of Crete.

Meet the researcher Kerry Sieh, geologist and seismologist, whose research objective is to increase awareness of geohazards to make the world a safer place for sustainable human presence. Click here to watch the video.