Seismic monitoring of inundation of the Glencoe Hydro Scheme Reservoir

Impoundment of reservoirs is known to sometimes cause earthquakes. At Glendoe in the Scottish Highlands the first large-scale hydro-electric power station to be built in the UK in almost 50 years was built in 2007/2008. In May 2008, a small network of seismometers was installed around the area due to be flooded at Glendoe to monitor any possible seismicity and these stations were maintained for a year after impoundment. Although a number of local earthquakes were recorded with good signal to noise ratios, no seismicity was recorded that can be attributed to the reservoir. This is perhaps because the dam is low, with a maximum water depth of 35m, whereas most reservoir induced seismicity has been observed at dams with water depths of over 100m.