Reservoir-Induced Seismicity （RIS） refers to seismic activity（i.e.，earthquakes） that occurs in the vicinity of artificial water reservoirs as a consequence of impoundment.RIS often is characterized as repeatable，clustered，shallow，and as having abundant high-frequency ground motion.A low magnitude RIS earthquake can cause major damage to not only human-made structures （e.g.，buildings and equipment），but may also cause geological disasters such as landslides and surges.Knowledge of RIS is immature because documented cases of RIS are limited in number and complex in nature.In the absence of well documented cases，seismic events occurring near a reservoir are often attributed to the impoundment of water.In numerous parts of the world today，including some of the most highly developed countries，many dam designers and operators tend to close their eyes to the engineering problems posed by RIS.There are some kinds of defensive arguments including：（1） no convincing correlation has yet been demonstrated between earthquakes and reservoirs；（2） since the natural seismicity at a given site is low，the danger of reservoir induced events is therefore also low；（3） the geology at a given site is different from that at localities where major reservoir-induced events have occurred；（4） only three or four out of some 11，000 large dams worldwide have experienced significant induced earthquakes，and one should, therefore，not worry about a given site；and（5） no dam has yet failed disastrously because of a reservoir-induced earthquake so the danger is thus grossly exaggerated.However，detractors of RIS are essentially evading the primary issues：Virtually every careful study has concluded that there is indeed a cause-and-effect relationship between some reservoirs and some earthquakes.Two dams （Koyna，India，and Hsinfengkiang，China） have，in fact，come uncomfortably close to disastrous failure during such events.Development of hydropower resources in southwestern China is one of the basic state policies；however，high dams built in high intensity areas may be accompanied by some risk of RIS.Therefore，the possibility of RIS and tendency of a reservoir to cause earthquakes needs to be scientifically investigated so that capacity for disaster prevention and mitigation can improve.At present，earthquake monitoring near reservoirs and related research are of great significance.Development of hydropower resources in southwestern China urgently needs to build an earthquake monitoring system associated with reservoirs and conduct in-depth studies of the monitoring data.Comprehensive analysis of reservoir seismic monitoring data is an important way to reveal the mechanism（s） of RIS and determine the factor（s） that induced an earthquake.This type of research is of great significance for scientifically forecasting earthquakes；and is also the foundation for proper identification of RIS and scientific guidance to aid in disaster relief.Therefore，it is urgent and essential to build up seismic monitoring systems for reservoirs using modern methods.It is also important to investigate the relationship among monitoring data，seismic activity，geological structure and properties of rock to reveal the mechanism（s） of RIS and the factor（s） related to reservoir induced earthquakes.The research results will be helpful in predicting the possibility of RIS，understanding the behavior of induced earthquakes，and preparing for disaster relief.