Google helping the 'next big one'? Earthquake alert?!

Full article here

BASEL, Switzerland — Markus O. Häring, a former oilman, was a hero in this city of medieval cathedrals and intense environmental passion three years ago, all because he had drilled a hole three miles deep near the corner of Neuhaus Street and Shafer Lane.

All seemed to be going well — until Dec. 8, 2006, when the project set off an earthquake, shaking and damaging buildings and terrifying many in a city that, as every schoolchild here learns, had been devastated exactly 650 years before by a quake that sent two steeples of the Münster Cathedral tumbling into the Rhine.

Ok, that does not seem like a great idea if the result is as quoted.

Hastily shut down, Mr. Häring’s project was soon forgotten by nearly everyone outside Switzerland. As early as this week, though, an American start-up company, AltaRock Energy, will begin using nearly the same method to drill deep into ground laced with fault lines in an area two hours’ drive north of San Francisco.

Hmm, is this a good idea? It's being powered (sorry funded) by companies like Google. I guess they are after the resources to help with their huge energy costs. But, although they say they will be avoiding fault lines etc.... surely this is not the best place to go drilling very large, deep holes?

Glad I am in Blighty.... a bit of a sensationalist headline I know but I felt it needed it.

Maybe that is what they are doing, trying to create quakes , all part of the bluebeam project !

I've often wondered if drilling, especially in the Indonesia area, causes or contributes to earthquakes in that area. It is already a volatile area but there seems to be alot of activity requiring drilling 'round there. I tried to research it once, but only found one paper which suggested that this might be possible. Thanks to the OP, I now have read two sources of information stating this is possible.
If I lived in the San Francisco area I would be worried (well more so than usual)

It certainly seems strange that they would use this procedure in such a volatile location?

Perhaps they have improved it, perhaps they are confident in it not causing any harm but imho messing around with nature is often very un-predictable.