Grzegorz Kwiatek, Tero Saarno, Thomas Ader, Felix Blümle, Marco Bohnhoff, Michael Chendorain, Georg Dresen, Pekka Heikkinen, Ilmo Kukkonen, Peter Leary, Maria Leonhardt, Peter Malin, Patricia Martinez-Garzon, Kevin Passmore, Paul Passmore, Sergio Valenzuela, Christopher Wollin

• We show that near-real-time seismic monitoring of fluid injection allowed control of induced earthquakes during the stimulation of a 6.1-km-deep geothermal well near Helsinki, Finland. A total of 18,160 m(3) of fresh water was pumped into crystalline rocks over 49 days in June to July 2018. Seismic monitoring was performed with a 24-station borehole seismometer network. Using near-real-time information on induced-earthquake rates, locations, magnitudes, and evolution of seismic and hydraulic energy, pumping was either stopped or varied-in the latter case, between well-head pressures of 60 and 90 MPa and flow rates of 400 and 800 liters/min. This procedure avoided the nucleation of a project-stopping magnitude M-W 2.0 induced earthquake, a limit set by local authorities. Our results suggest a possible physics-based approach to controlling stimulation-induced seismicity in geothermal projects.