How one US state went from two quakes a year to 585 (Oklahoma, fracking)

[progree]

Last edited Wed Sep 23, 2015, 06:57 AM - Edit history (1)

How one US state went from two quakes a year to 585

The central US state of Oklahoma has gone from registering two earthquakes a year to nearly two a day and scientists point to a controversial culprit: wastewater injection wells used in fracking.

Located in the middle of the country, far from any major fault lines, Oklahoma experienced 585 earthquakes of a magnitude of 3.0 or greater in 2014. That's more than three times as many as the 180 which hit California last year.

As of last month, Oklahoma has already experienced more than 600 quakes strong enough to rattle windows and rock cars. The biggest was a 4.5-magnitude quake that hit the small town of Crescent.

.... From 1975 to 2008, the state experienced anywhere from zero to three earthquakes a year which registered at 3.0 or higher. Then the numbers jumped: there were 20 in 2009, 35 in 2010, 64 in 2011, 35 in 2012, 109 in 2013 and 585 in 2014.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/one-us-state-went-two-quakes-585-054259418.html

The source of this article is Agence France-Presse (AFP). Yahoo is just the news aggregator which posts news from multiple sources, e.g. similarly news.google.com

Even the Oklahoma governor has accepted the link between fracking (particularly the injection of waste water into the ground) and earthquakes.

Gov. Mary Fallin acknowledges “direct correlation” between earthquakes and disposal wells
http://kfor.com/2015/08/04/gov-mary-fallin-acknowledges-direct-correlation-between-earthquakes-and-disposal-wells/

Anyway, if your crazy uncle or brother-in-law questions the negative environmental impact of fracking, you can point out that even the Republican government of Oklahoma now takes it very seriously.

Who knows how much damage is being caused statewide through the shaking that cracks foundations, concrete, walls, ... maybe more than the value of the oil/gas being extracted?

[font color = red]On Edit:[/font] clarifying the source of the article. And some more on Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin's acknowledgement of science.

[Nihil]

1. "Who knows how much damage is being caused statewide"

More to the point, who cares?

The State of Oklahoma doesn't.

The fossil fuel companies don't.

The "wastewater" disposal companies don't.

None of the people who are profitting from this exploitation care
and, apparently, far too few of the actual Oklahoma voters care.

I feel sorry for the ones who *do* care and who *do* try to get
this corrupt & outrageous situation addressed but they are just
being swamped by the mindless morons who surround them.

Poor bastards.

[NonMetro]

2. In The Future, People Will Look Back On This And See

How desperate we were for oil - to the point where we are literally breaking up the crust of the earth to squeeze every drop out of the rocks. And we're drilling deeper and deeper into the ocean floor, and crews are everywhere scouring the earth to find more. We're like addicts willing to go anywhere and do anything for our next fix! It's crazy!

[progree]

4. And we're supposed to leave a lot of it in the ground if we're going to have any chance of

avoiding runaway global warming.

In The Future, People Will Look Back On This And See How desperate we were for oil - to the point where we are literally breaking up the crust of the earth to squeeze every drop out of the rocks. ... We're like addicts ...

[Tess49]

3. And everyone I know has purchased earthquake insurance. I bought it, too. At first, the insurance

companies tried to put in exclusions for "man made quakes". The Insurance Commissioner put a stop to that asking how we were supposed to prove it was natural vs. man made. I live in central Oklahoma and feel these small quakes all the time.

[progree]

5. The insurance commissioner of Oklahoma is imposing job-killing guvmint regulations?

and interfering with the glorious free market?

That sounds like New York City or socialist Vermont (little Scandanavia), not Oklahoma.

... earthquake insurance. ... At first, the insurance companies tried to put in exclusions for "man made quakes"