With all the hubbub over the earthquakes that have been occurring throughout the world recently, it’s easy to wonder what the cause behind so much seismic activity is. While earthquakes are typically a natural occurrence, there are certain human activities that can trigger them, such as fracking.
What exactly is fracking? This is a term used for the process of hydraulic fracturing, which is the process in which wells are drilled into the earth’s crust in order to extract oil or natural gas. This process can cause seismic activity if water is not pumped in to replace the oil or natural gas that is extracted. Additionally, the high-pressure injection of waste water back into the earth after the fracking has been linked to increased seismic activity.
Perhaps one of the most obvious reasons why people are becoming suspicious of fracking when it comes to all the recent earthquakes is due to the fact that an independent UK energy company, Cuadrilla Resources, recently admitted that fracking was the probably cause behind two small earthquakes that struck near Blackpool, England, in the spring of 2011.
Although the firm has assured the world that there are few risks of additional earthquakes taking place due to their drilling, one still has to wonder how many earthquakes throughout the world have been man-made and how many are a cause of nature?
Take the multiple earthquakes that have occurred in the central United States recently. Over the last weekend, there were at least 23 earthquakes reported in Oklahoma, one occurring late Saturday night, November 5th. This was the strongest earthquake in the state’s recorded history, measuring at a 5.6 magnitude on the Richter scale. A handful of smaller quakes had shaken the state earlier in the day, and at least 11 aftershocks followed the larger quake, each measuring over 2.5 on the Richter scale. There was moderate structural damage reported to various buildings as well as some roadways.
According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, seismic activity has increased 10 times more than normal since 2009. Although there are some deep-lying fault lines beneath the state’s surface, earthquakes are not a typical occurrence in the Sooner State. Unlike California and Japan, which are both locations prone to earthquakes, Oklahoma does not sit atop two fractious tectonic plates. So what is causing all these earthquakes?
Oklahoma is a big state these days for extracting oil. Although no companies have of yet taken credit for the onset of seismic activity, the possibility of fracking being the cause behind the quakes has not been ruled out yet. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey has done a study linking at least 50 small earthquakes in Oklahoma with fracking that has been going on there. The bigger worry is that there is a chance that there is a major unknown fault line lying somewhere beneath the state’s crust.
So, what can we do about it? Unless a natural gas company steps forward and takes responsibility for the recent earthquakes, we will have to assume that they are natural occurrences caused by the ever-shifting earth. One does have to wonder if the recent earthquakes are natural, though.
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Oklahoma recent earthquakes image by flickr user kelleymcd
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Graham: Before you make statements like that, check your facts (if it’s not too much trouble). There is indeed scientific research corroborating the link between fracking and seismic activity. Check out the January 4th edition of Scientific American, for instance.
There are many geological faults running through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. Reference newsok.com for story on earthquake in OK. The area in which these occurrences happened are the site of many tremors that have been recorded, but not felt through the years since they have been recording them. You need to find out more about the actual fracturing technique before condemning the practice. There are and have been many earth quakes around the world every year This is a planet that is moving through space and rotating at a rate of a revolution every 24 hours. The stresses on it are enough to cause shift and settling without trying to blame every thing on human activity..
More earthquakes in 1 year than in the last 100. Yeah, nothing changed.
So of course the energy industry, those stoic defenders of honesty and integrity such as Enron and Halliburton, say it couldnt be that we’ve pulled billions of barrels of oil out of the ground so Oklahoma is sitting on top of giant empty caverns, then bust open what rock is left that is supporting us over these collosal honeycombs with hydraulic fracturing to get the NG out… what could possibly go wrong? Don’t worry you’re pretty little head about it!!! And they’ve got Jim Inhoffe in their pocket (of course there’s no such thing as global warming!) We’re going to all go to bed one night and wake up the next morning about a mile below sea level….
Exactly
Great article, I will be using this in a class I teach next week.
i think the earthquakes are caused by that Hadron Collider look at this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider ever since they have had it in operation there has been many earthquakes. i think it is making strong magnetic fields that are upsetting earth’s magnetic field by pushing it out of balance fracking will most likely be adding to the problem the Hadron Collider should of been built on the moon for earth safety.mans thirst for knowledge is putting the world at risk.if they controlled the world birth rate we wouldn’t have to rape the planet of its minerals that in turn pollutes the planet.that is my observation since the Hadron Collider was built. someone should run a computer model based on this information. they say its safe.of course they would say that because of the money that was spent building it. maybe that’s what the Mayans and nostradamus was warning us about,
what a Joke, This is about the most ridiculous claim I have heard in a while. The research on whether drilling causes earthquakes is so scarce. There is no way that there is any scientific research basis to this article.
when you say that a slight correlation between two things at any given point means a direct link is just propaganda, pseudoscience.
moving on.