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Induced seismic ground shaking comprises non-tectonic (i.e., nonnatural) earthquakes which result from human activities that alter the stresses and strains on the Earth’s crust. Most induced seismicity is of a low magnitude and higher frequency than larger magnitude events with longer wavelengths and lower frequencies (USGS, 2016).

Liquefaction is the term applied to the loss of strength experienced in loosely packed, saturated or close to saturated sediments at or near the ground surface in response to strong ground shaking, such as earthquakes, cyclic loading, and vibration from machinery, or due to the development of excess pore pressure resulting from a change in head or confining pressures. The loss of strength causes the soil to behave like a viscous fluid, sometimes referred to as ‘running sand’, until the excess pore pressure returns to hydrostatic (USGS, no date).

Ground fissures form in response to tensional stresses, most commonly in unconsolidated sediment, but also in rock (Arizona Geological Survey, 2020).

Subsidence is a lowering or collapse of the ground (BGS, 2020). Uplift is the converse.

Subsidence is a lowering or collapse of the ground, caused by various factors, including groundwater lowering, sub-surface mining or tunnelling, consolidation, sinkholes, or changes in moisture content in expansive soils. Shrink-swell is the term applied to the behaviour of expansive soils, which are a group of soils that exhibit volumetric change in response to changes in moisture content, such that they shrink in response to desiccation and swell by hydration, resulting in ground subsidence and ground heave respectively (BGS, 2020).

A sinkhole is a closed depression in karst (a landscape resulting from the dissolution of soluble rock) by current or palaeo internal drainage, also known as a doline. This is one of several hazards that result in subsidence, i.e., lowering or collapse of the ground (adapted from USGS, no date; and BGS, no date).

Ground gases that result from material decay (natural or anthropogenic) typically include radon, methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, but may also include the break down products of other compounds, such as nitrogen, alcohols, alkanes, cycloalkanes and alkenes, aromatic hydrocarbons (monocyclic or polycyclic); esters and ethers, as well as halogenated compounds and organosulphur. Ground gases derived from magma (molten or semi-molten natural material derived from the melting of land or oceanic crust) include carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen halides.

Riverbank erosion is the removal of material from the banks of rivers when flowing water forces exceed bank resisting forces by the soil and vegetation, for example, when river levels are sufficiently high, primarily due to fluvial energy and atmospheric processes and secondarily because of the resultant geotechnical instability and consequential riverbank failure. Riverbank failure can also occur as a consequence of Earth hazards, such as volcanos and earthquakes (USDA, no date).

Sand encroachment occurs generally in arid to semi-arid regions when grains of sand are carried by winds and form sandy accumulation on coasts, along water courses and on cultivated or uncultivated land. As the accumulations of sand (dunes) move, they bury towns, roads, oases, crops, market gardens, irrigation channels and dams, thus causing major material and socioeconomic damage (FAO, 2010).

An aquifer is a water-bearing rock that readily transmits water to wells and springs. It can be recharged either naturally (precipitation including rainfall or snow) or artificially (e.g., pumped river recharge via wells). Failure or outage can be due to derogation, well failure or contamination (USGS, no date).