Fracking probable cause of increase in Oaklahoma earthquake activity. - Polidicks

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/N7gmW44.jpg[/IMG] [quote]Frequent, rumbling tremors beneath the earth may be a common occurrence in California, [B]but Oklahoma has now surpassed the state in the number of earthquakes felt this year-a trend that is surprising geophysicists and raising concern. [/B] "It is actually very surprising to us as well," Pasadena, California-based U.S. Geological Survey Geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran said. Between 1975 and 2008, only an average of two earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater would occur each year in Oklahoma. Since 2009, the number of quakes has climbed exponentially, and there are no signs of slowing. "There has been a dramatic increase in that time," Cochran said. [B]"We're seeing a very steep increase with 183 quakes occurring in a six-month period."[/B] [B][I]Between October 2013 and April 2014, 183 earthquakes occurred with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher, and continue to occur with an average depth of 3 miles.Between 1975 and 2008, a total of 40 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater occurred, according to a USGS study.[/I][/B] Cochran said the rate will continue to climb in the future based on the current data. Changes in pressure near faults in Oklahoma that surpass the fault's critical pressure threshold are likely the cause of the seismic activity surge. [B]The cause for this increase does not appear to be natural and has likely been induced by fluid injection, part of the crude oil and gas industry's disposal of wastewater through the creation of wastewater wells. [/B] The injection of wastewater fluids deep into the ground can lubricate existing, dormant faults and change the stress and pressure of the fault, leading to increased seismic activity, Cochran said. "These quakes tend to be shallower," she said. "At this point, we do not think this is a natural variation." According to a recent research study Cochran cited, not only has the rate of occurrence increased, [B]but the rate in which earthquakes have the potential to ignite other quakes.[/B] [B]"There is a fundamental change in the seismicity and statistically they differ from natural earthquake sequences," she said.[/B][/quote] [url]http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/oklahoma-earthquakes-wastewater-wells-fluid-injection/29640426[/url] [quote] FORT WORTH, Texas — States where hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") takes place have seen a surge in earthquake activity, raising suspicions that the unconventional drilling method could be responsible. Blame is focusing on the wells where the industry disposes of its wastewater. Fracking generates vast amounts of wastewater, far more than traditional drilling methods. The water is pumped into injection wells, which send the waste thousands of feet underground. No one knows for certain exactly what happens to the liquids after that. Some scientists wonder whether they could trigger quakes by increasing underground pressures and lubricating faults. [B]Oklahoma has recorded nearly 250 small-to-medium earthquakes since January, according to statistics kept by the U.S. Geological Survey. That's close to half of all the magnitude 3 or higher earthquakes recorded this year in the continental United States.[/B] Recommended: Fracking. Tight oil. Do you know your energy vocabulary? A study published earlier this month in the journal Science suggests that just four wells injecting massive amounts of drilling wastewater into the ground are probably shaking up much of the state, accounting for one out of every five quakes from the eastern border of Colorado to the Atlantic coast.[/quote] [quote][B]Q: HOW MANY QUAKES HAVE THERE BEEN NEAR WASTEWATER INJECTION AREAS?[/B] A: Researchers are still debating the appropriate parameters for measuring the link between injection wells and earthquakes, including at what distances injections can possibly stimulate quakes. Previously seismologists had linked injection wells to earthquakes occurring within 3 miles of injection sites, but a new study tracks earthquakes as far as 20 miles away from wells.[/quote] [quote][B]Q: WHAT DOES THE MOST RECENT RESEARCH SAY ABOUT THE LINK BETWEEN THE TWO?[/B] A: Studies on the swarms of temblors in central Oklahoma, Ohio and North Texas have found probable links between injection wells and earthquakes, with the caveat that a dearth of information on conditions underground before the injections began makes it difficult to unequivocally link them to quakes. However, studies more than 50 years old have linked injection wells to tremors in Colorado.[/quote] [quote][B]Q: HOW DOES THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY RESPOND TO THESE STUDIES?[/B] A: [B]Wastewater injection disposal does risk inducing earthquakes[/B], said Dana Bohan with Energy In Depth, a research and education arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a Washington-based group that represents thousands of oil and natural gas producers. However, Bohan said, very few events have been documented over the decades in which the disposal wells have been in operation.[/quote] [url]http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0714/Fracking-FAQ-What-s-the-link-between-injection-wells-and-earthquakes[/url] Hmmm, maybe we should be thinking about this more carefully... too bad the industry isn't going to stop because of what some stupid Geologist say, what do they know?? Check out this animation from the USGS: [url]http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/ceus/products/OKeqanimation.php[/url] [quote][B]Between October 2013 and April 2014, 183 earthquakes occurred with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher, and continue to occur with an average depth of 3 miles.Between 1975 and 2008, a total of 40 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater occurred, according to a USGS study.[/B][/quote]

Gee, this is what we get for not examining the long time effects of it. What will happen now? Will it restore itself? Probably not, at least not as long as humans walk the earth, stone does not regenerate.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;45413781]Gee, this is what we get for not examining the [B]long time effects of it[/B]. What will happen now? Will it restore itself? Probably not, at least not as long as humans walk the earth, stone does not regenerate.[/QUOTE] Fracking has been around since the 1940's and has only gone on mass-scale in part to the Bakkens, New York, and Alberta.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;45413803]Fracking has been around since the 1940's and has only gone on mass-scale in part to the Bakkens, New York, and Alberta.[/QUOTE] Fracking is picking up popularity all over. It's pretty much done everywhere now. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas_in_the_United_States[/url]

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;45413781]Gee, this is what we get for not examining the long time effects of it. What will happen now? Will it restore itself? Probably not, at least not as long as humans walk the earth, stone does not regenerate.[/QUOTE] New terrorist method: Frack below major cities and watch as the subsequent earthquakes destroy them.

I somehow managed to think that this thread had something to do with [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_(expletive)]Battlestar Galactica[/url].

You know, it's pretty divided here on what's causing them. Some people say fracking, others say that it's natural. Though, I'm wondering how many of the earthquakes are aftershocks from the 2011 earthquake. They're all happening down near Prague on the Wilzetta Fault which is where the 2011 earthquake was at.

[QUOTE=OvB;45413763] Hmmm, maybe we should be thinking about this more carefully... too bad the industry isn't going to stop because of what some stupid Geologist say, what do they know?? [/QUOTE] I'm going to guess it's more profitable to work in the gas/oil industry as a geologist than as an independent researcher or as part of some not-for-profit environmental study. All the companies want to hear is where the money is buried so they know where to aim the drill. I'll bet a dollar (that I don't have) that they won't stop anything without a law and some kind of enforcement agency telling them to.

[QUOTE=SadisticGecko;45414022]You know, it's pretty divided here on what's causing them. Some people say fracking, others say that it's natural. Though, I'm wondering how many of the earthquakes are aftershocks from the 2011 earthquake. They're all happening down near Prague on the Wilzetta Fault which is where the 2011 earthquake was at.[/QUOTE] You mean this one? [quote] One of Oklahoma's biggest man-made earthquakes, caused by fracking-linked wastewater injection, triggered an earthquake cascade that led to the damaging magnitude-5.7 Prague quake that struck on Nov. 6, 2011, a new study confirms. The findings suggest that even small man-made earthquakes, such as those of just a magnitude 1 or magnitude 2, can trigger damaging quakes, said study co-author Elizabeth Cochran, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "Even if wastewater injection only directly affects a low-hazard fault, those smaller events could trigger an event on a larger fault nearby," she told Live Science. The Prague earthquake was the largest of thousands of quakes that rattled Oklahoma in late 2011. Three were magnitude-5 or stronger. The 2011 quakes struck along the Wilzetta fault, a fault zone near Prague. Earthquakes break faults like a boat plowing through thick ice — the fault zips open as the earthquake ruptures the fault, and then seals itself shut behind. Each of the three biggest quakes tore apart a different part of the Wilzetta fault, the researchers said. [Image Gallery: Deadly Earthquakes][/quote][url]http://www.livescience.com/43953-wastewater-injection-earthquake-triggering.html[/url] Here's the science: [url]https://profile.usgs.gov/myscience/upload_folder/ci2013May3015351271984Keranen%20etal%20Geology%202013.pdf[/url]

That's the thing. The geologists here say that it was natural. With all the earthquakes, it was brought up on the news about a month or so ago. They were saying the 2011 quake was natural and the recent ones were "possibly" caused by fracking.

We all know that they are connected. The problem is that with so much money involved it's really hard to justify using the method and reverting to older and more inefficient methods, let alone admitting that what you are doing is causing immetiately noticeable damage.

[QUOTE=SadisticGecko;45414115]That's the thing. The geologists here say that it was natural. With all the earthquakes, it was brought up on the news about a month or so ago. They were saying the 2011 quake was natural and the recent ones were "possibly" caused by fracking.[/QUOTE] It's been increasing exponentially since 2008. If these small quakes could be attributed to fracking then why is it so unlikely that a big one was set off from the increase in activity? [editline]16th July 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=pentium;45414117]We all know that they are connected. The problem is that with so much money involved it's really hard to justify using the method and reverting to older and more inefficient methods, let alone admitting that what you are doing is causing immetiately noticeable damage.[/QUOTE] You could probably mitigate quakes by making drillers record and manage their pressures better. [editline]16th July 2014[/editline] The thing to take away from this whole thing is, we are fairly certain Fracking has a direct impact on seismic activity. We need to put in place methods to mitigate that impact. Whether it's put in a few regulations and rules on how they manage their injections, or stop doing it entirely.

You would have to ask them.

Tornado's and now basically half of the US's Earthquakes... Jesus Oklahoma. [QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;45413803]Fracking has been around since the 1940's and has only gone on mass-scale in part to the Bakkens, New York, and Alberta.[/QUOTE] Fuck Quebec and that "regulation" crap they have.

The giant energy companies started becoming a huge deal here in the late 2000's and "coincidentally" we started getting earthquakes here shortly after. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. That being said there's no chance in hell we're going back; they have too much control here.

I've been watching too much Battlestar Galactica.