Scientists are exploring a new concern about the Marcellus Shale: earthquakes. To break up the shale and get to the gas, energy companies pump millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals underground. Temple geologist Nick Davatzes said that the injection of large quantities of water near a fault can be destabilizing. "It has the potential for providing the fluid volume to push those surfaces apart and allow them to slip, or it can push so hard that it literally lifts the two surfaces away from each other and they open." If it's done near a fault line, he said, it can cause movement.