Probe Alert March 1998

A leaked report by the World Bank Inspection Panel has revealed that the bank committed a “serious violations of its policies and procedures” in approving its most recent loan to India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for the massive and controversial thermal power and coal mining projects in the Singrauli area of India.

Reservoir-induced seismicity in China

(1998) A review of case histories of reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS) in China shows that it mainly occurs in granitic and karst terranes. Seismicity in granitic terranes is mainly associated with pore pressure diffusion whereas in karst terranes the chemical effect of water appears to play a major role in triggering RIS. In view of the characteristic features of RIS in China, we can expect moderate earthquakes to be induced by the construction of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River.