Oklahoma Earthquake & Fracking

oklahoma earthquakes recent

I’ve drawn the link between natural gas hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) and earthquakes numerous times, long before the Oklahoma earthquakes or Blackpool (Lancashire) earthquakes in England. I started doing so early in 2011 when the Arkansas earthquakes were all the news and I got the hint that it might be related to fracking.

The case has only gotten more clear since then. As reported last week, even a fracking company in England has now stated that fracking is the “probable” cause of recent earthquakes there.

Note: it is actually the injection disposal wells at fracking sites that is the culprit. Different from the natural gas production wells, this is where the waste fracking fluid that returns after fracking is complete gets injected back into the earth.

In September, we reported that the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission banned fracking disposal wells for unconventional gas drilling wastesΒ due to earthquakes. This was months after fracking in the area was put on hold (a temporary moratorium was put in place) as an investigation into the matter took place. Some interesting results from that:

β€œ[A]fter two of the four [disposal wells] stopped operating in March, there was a sharp decline in the number of earthquakes. In the 18 days before the shutdown, there were 85 quakes with a magnitude 2.5 or greater, but there were only 20 in the 18 days following the shutdown, according to the state Geological Survey.”

How did they get the idea to study the link? Well, in 2010, after fracking started in the state, the number of earthquakes was over 600 — about as many as in Arkansas in the last 100 years! Connection?

fracking earthquakes

Also, it should be noted that the U.S. Army and U.S. Geological Society conclusively linked fracking to earthquakes long ago.

Oklahoma Earthquakes & Fracking

In Oklahoma, the situation is quite similar (though, of course, the investigation has not been completed yet). The largest earthquake that hit Oklahoma this weekend, a 5.6-magnitude tremor near Sparks,Β was the largest on record in the state. Dozens of earthquakes hit Oklahoma on the weekend.

Oklahoma has seen the same rise in earthquake activity that Arkansas saw. Going from about 50 earthquakes a year up until 2009, the state got 1,047 last year! I’m sorry, but did no one there or studying the matter notice? Or did they just not make the connection to fracking? Or did they just have no influence over the matter, so no one heard them?

Of course, the trend has continued in 2011, and now almost the whole country knows that Oklahoma all of a sudden gets strong earthquakes. (The 5.6-magnitude quake this week was felt as far away as Illinois and Wisconsin.

Fracking & Earthquakes

OK, now, how can fracking be related to earthquakes? It’s actually the disposal wells that seem to cause the problem. Fracking involves high-pressure injection or pumping of fluids into the ground,.. in order to open up cracks in the rock for natural gas to escape and be capture.

Hmm, open up cracks in the rock….

While it seems fracking doesn’t cause earthquakes immediately, it lowers the barriers to earthquakes happening, loosens up the rocks enough that it is more likely to happen. In Arkansas, they noticed that it was especially the wastewater disposal wells that seemed to be setting the stage for earthquakes. As quoted above, when these wastewater disposal wells were shut down — high-pressure injection of wastewater was stopped — the number of earthquakes diminshed back down to a more normal level soon after.

Of course, many (especially corporate interests in the fracking industry) still claim there is no conclusive link between fracking and earthquakes, and making a clear, direct link to any specific quake is rather hard (if not impossible). But I think we’ve come far enough to know by now that fracking causes (or helps to cause earthquakes). And not just small ones (another common claim in the natural gas industry). And, of course, less not forget about the flammable water….

Sources: Planetsave, Guardian, Earth & Industry,Β Arstechnica, and numerous articles I’ve read and written on the matter this year.
Oklahoma recent earthquakes by flickr user kelleymcd via Red, Green, and Blue;Β Oh FrackΒ image via Shutterstock/Gas2

Want to help stop fracking in Oklahoma? Visit the linked Facebook page on the matter.

Still here? OK, bonus for you then! Check out this fun fracking infographic:

hydraulic fracking infographic

62 thoughts on “Oklahoma Earthquake & Fracking”

    1. An image of one of many Oklahoma earthquakes today (and the most recent), seen in green, as it relates to the worldwide total of the past few hours. July 30, 2014. All magnitudes, all earthquakes for a few hours time. We are appearing to integrate Oklahoma to the pattern of stress which is continental in scale and cause, yet it seems to be activated by the recent local fracking and disposal wells. This line occurs fairly regularly in the past few years, during a one day period when active.

      http://imageshack.com/a/img540/2074/sOGjxK.jpg

      1. A four day listing of Oklahoma quakes shows we are the most prolific site in the hemisphere most weeks during the year. small but persistent events never seen until fracking was expanded.

  1. When the U.S. was hit by a two week heavy rain series last year across most of the northern states, the subsequent runoff showed an unusual earthquake pattern. Only four quakes over 1.5 were displayed in the entire U.S. for the day- a low occurance rate, but each was within a few tens of miles of rivers where the river path was changed by local geology to a greater than 90 degree course diversion. By removing all mapping but the ‘rivers’ selection I had found a distinct cause of 4.5 and lessor earthquakes where surface force and volume was directly involved with the only quakes recorded. No injection waste sites and no wells studied, as the software did not permit, but a clear cause and efect indicated, with miles of separation of events. Stress, or transport, or, simply a ‘gravity anomoly’ was causing small local quakes.
    Try the program ‘ Eq3D ‘, by Wolton.net (free), to follow this and fracking influences.
    Where satellite studies show high gravity ‘potential’ transients, there are 95-99 percent of all the 5.0 and greater earthquakes. Staging is by locality, not timing of the fluctuations, for 5.0 and larger quakes. Tectonics shows the zones of the ‘transients’.
    Earthquakes below 5.0 do not follow the satellite measured gravity transients as often, and most are shallow.
    For lessor quakes finding the causes is much more difficult, as we cannot map the underground aquifer transport and stresses any better than the new gravity variance satellites can find the specific incidence causes. More technology, more detail, will do that eventually.

    Heavy near surface water volume change(rain runoff), causes local lessor shallow earthquakes.
    It follows that fracking can cause lessor local quakes, similarly, involving liquids.

    1. A link for some basic Oklahoma earthquake figures, one of many sources. 830 earthquakes during the past year, up from the averages of a few dozen or less during the previous years for decades of watching. The activity shows a local pattern. Finding the reason for the pattern is important. Today while typing this I was jolted in Oklahoma City by a single 4.3 wave, originating in Guthrie, OK. The quake shook my computer and caused noise. Five quakes today in Guthrie alone, with many others above 4.0 in Oklahoma this year. This is an historical pattern emerging, in an ordered formation.
      Our new state government administration is yet claiming there is no connection to recent increased fracking, and apparently also claiming that water/chemical/gas transport is not also involved, for the same reasoning.

      http://earthquaketrack.com/p/united-states/oklahoma/recent

  2. Zachary, we are having abnormal earthquakes in Wellington, New Zealand and we have fracking in New Plymouth and Dannevirke in the North Island. I have never known anything like this last month in 52 years. Remember Christchurch and the earthquakes there –they never thought Christchurch was an earthquake prone area, so ok there was an undiscovered fault line but what set off the spree of earthquakes? I have to investigate this a bit more as I see you say not all fracking causes earthquakes , only those near fault lines–we have a few fault lines in NZ. There may be other places in NZ where fracking is going on that I am unaware of. Would be interested if you have an opinion.

    1. Hello, Chloe. Yes, numerous independent studies have shown that fracking increases the frequency and strength of earthquakes in areas with fault lines. The degree of effect varies. And, of course, linking any one such event to something is basically statistically impossible.

      How much fracking to you have going on there?

      (Btw, I should note that it is the wastewater injection wells that are linked to the increased earthquake activity.)

  3. Zachary, we are having abnormal earthquakes in Wellington, New Zealand and we have fracking in New Plymouth and Dannevirke in the North Island. I have never known anything like this last month in 52 years. Remember Christchurch and the earthquakes there –they never thought Christchurch was an earthquake prone area, so ok there was an undiscovered fault line but what set off the spree of earthquakes? I have to investigate this a bit more as I see you say not all fracking causes earthquakes , only those near fault lines–we have a few fault lines in NZ. There may be other places in NZ where fracking is going on that I am unaware of. Would be interested if you have an opinion.

    1. Hello, Chloe. Yes, numerous independent studies have shown that fracking increases the frequency and strength of earthquakes in areas with fault lines. The degree of effect varies. And, of course, linking any one such event to something is basically statistically impossible.

      How much fracking to you have going on there?

      (Btw, I should note that it is the wastewater injection wells that are linked to the increased earthquake activity.)

  4. Lived here over 50 yrs and we`ve had those same small earthquakes for forever. The 5.6 was interesting but I assume that eventually you`ll get one bigger than the last biggest one recorded. Funny thing is they have always been in the same general area(about a 50 mile radius)so I hardly think fracking has much to do with it as they are fracking all over the state.

    1. The fracking (well, the injection of the wastewater) triggers more and bigger ones. Studies in a number of places have now found this. But, yes, there needs to be some underlying tectonics that make it possible.

  5. Lived here over 50 yrs and we`ve had those same small earthquakes for forever. The 5.6 was interesting but I assume that eventually you`ll get one bigger than the last biggest one recorded. Funny thing is they have always been in the same general area(about a 50 mile radius)so I hardly think fracking has much to do with it as they are fracking all over the state.

    1. The fracking (well, the injection of the wastewater) triggers more and bigger ones. Studies in a number of places have now found this. But, yes, there needs to be some underlying tectonics that make it possible.

  6. wow! iam certainly not a scientist of any kind. but common sense has got to prevail here. although earthquakes (i live in san antonio) can and will be very devastating, if theres no safe drinking water what matter does that make? i cant drive my car or heat my home without petrolium but if i die of dehydration really?????????

  7. Pardon me, but I’m not convinced. From my research, it looks like disposal wells in Lincoln Co OK are commonly drilled to depths of 6k to 12k feet. The epicenter of OK’s ‘big one’ was 3.1 miles down- or approx. 16,400 feet. The water being pumped into disposal wells was pumped out of the ground to begin with. It is simply being placed back into the earth- minus the gas/oil that came up along with it. If anything, pressure is being relieved rather than being increased in the end. Fracking & disposal wells are completely unrelated to earthquakes. It is true that various entities are claiming a connection, but you don’t need a degree in rocket science to understand that they are simply giving in to political pressure. History speaks for itself. On April 9 1952 there was a 5.5 magnitude quake centered near El Reno OK. No fracking or injection wells at that time. Native American lore in OK also speaks of notable quakes in the 1800’s & before. Hey, I believe in protecting the environment. But I also believe in energy independence. You speak of ‘renewable’ & ‘free’ alternatives. If they really were free, why did Solyndra go belly up? Alternative energy does need to be pursued, but it is no where near being economically feasible at the present time. We can’t depend on it right now, so we need something to carry us through until we attain a point where alternative energy can be consistently dependable. I currently reside atop the Bakken Shale. Wells here are(aside from producing wells remaining from the oil boom 20 or so years ago) are horizontal-fracture drilled. Last month alone, 167 wells came on-line in a 5 county area. Tens of thousands of barrels(a barrel is approx. 42 gal.) a day are pumped down into dozens of disposal wells. No seismic anomalies here. Thank you for letting me voice my thoughts & I more than welcome your feedback.

    1. Lou, yes, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Geological Society acknowledged years ago that this process used in fracking causes earthquakes. I don’t think they were bowing to political pressure!

      http://planetsave.com/2011/11/11/oklahoma-earthquake-would-have-slammed-keystone-xl/

      Nobody said renewable energy was free — the fuel is free, but the technology obviously isn’t. Nonetheless, renewable energy can now power the world (anchored by cheap wind and solar, but also supported by geothermal, hydro, tidal, wave, biomass, and more): http://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/15/renewable-energy-can-power-world/

      It’s ridiculous how much people/media made of the Solyndra thing — costs of PV have dropped off a cliff in the past couple years — this is one key reason Solyndra failed. That said, Solyndra was a tiny, tiny % of the U.S. govt’s investment in clean energy. Overall, it’s investment has been paying off much more than not. In the case of solar: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/10/about-solar-energy-why-solar-energy/ & wind: http://cleantechnica.com/world-wind-power/

      I’m actually one who might support natural gas as a transition fuel — not because it’s needed technically, but because it might be needed politically. That said, it really needs to solve its earthquake and water quality problems first.

      And, of course, earthquakes aren’t always cause by fracking! And fracking doesn’t always cause earthquakes. Smoking doesn’t always cause cancer, but we know it does in many, many people.

      1. OK Zack, I checked your first link. It reverted me back to YOUR website- which, by the way, uses terms like ‘apparently’ and ‘casual link’ when attempting to connect earthquakes with hydraulic fracking. Ya know- I could leave a post somewhere claiming something like… our President wears combat boots in the shower(ha-ha!), and if enough outlets took it and ran with it, people would actually start to believe it. Hey- don’t get me wrong- I’m not knocking you or your right to express your opinion, after all, you are providing a forum for myself and others to express our opinions- and I thank you for that, but what I am interested in is factual information. Anyway- What I looked for next was some kind of official release from either the US Army or the USGS on the subject- with no success. If you could provide a link like that, I would be eager to see it. What I did find was a quote from a transcript of an on-line chat following the Virginia quake back in August. Dr. Mike Blanpied of the USGS states, “…The connection between fracking/fluid injection and earthquakes is an area of active research and, really, we’re only starting to learn about how those things are connected.” I’m still not anywhere near the point of convincing, Zack. This whole situation, to me, seems like a combination of a lack of concrete facts and ‘mis’-information overload. Thanks again, Bro.

        1. from the USGS (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/faq/?categoryID=1&faqID=1):

          Q: Can we cause earthquakes? Is there any way to prevent earthquakes?

          A: Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in a few locations in the United States, Japan, and Canada. The cause was injection of fluids into deep wells for waste disposal and secondary recovery of oil, and the use of reservoirs for water supplies. Most of these earthquakes were minor. The largest and most widely known resulted from fluid injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado. In 1967, an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 followed a series of smaller earthquakes. Injection had been discontinued at the site in the previous year once the link between the fluid injection and the earlier series of earthquakes was established. (Nicholson, Craig and Wesson, R.L., 1990, Earthquake Hazard Associated with Deep Well Injection–A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1951, 74 p.)

          Also see: http://planetsave.com/2011/11/11/oklahoma-earthquake-would-have-slammed-keystone-xl/

          According to the U.S. Army’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal website, the RMA drilled a deep well for disposing of the site’s liquid waste after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency β€œconcluded that this procedure is effective and protective of the environment.” According to the RMA (http://www.rma.army.mil/cleanup/facts/deep-wel.html), β€œThe Rocky Mountain Arsenal deep injection well was constructed in 1961, and was drilled to a depth of 12,045 feet” and 165 million gallons of Basin F liquid waste, consisting of β€œvery salty water that includes some metals, chlorides, wastewater and toxic organics” was injected into the well during 1962-1966.

          Why was the process halted? β€œThe Army discontinued use of the well in February 1966 because of the possibility that the fluid injection was β€œtriggering earthquakes in the area,” according to the RMA. In 1990, the β€œEarthquake Hazard Associated with Deep Well Injection–A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency” study of RMA events by Craig Nicholson, and R.I. Wesson stated simply, β€œInjection had been discontinued at the site in the previous year once the link between the fluid injection and the earlier series of earthquakes was established.”

          Twenty-five years later, β€œpossibility” and β€˜established” changed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s July 2001 87 page study, β€œTechnical Program Overview: Underground Injection Control Regulations EPA 816-r-02-025,” which reported, β€œIn 1967, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) determined that a deep, hazardous waste disposal well at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal was causing significant seismic events in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado.”

          1. Hi, Zack. I’ll apologize ahead of time ‘cuz, I’m feeling kind of…’Long-winded’ shall we say?… I’d like to begin this post with a personal experience from about 20 years ago- not because it ends in some kind of ‘cataclysmic geological upheaval'(it may sound like its headed in that direction), but because I’d like to use it to illustrate a point. I had been traveling southbound in north-central Wyoming- if I remember correctly, between Thermopolis and Riverton. The highway dropped down and lazily snaked along the bottom of a canyon. Shortly after, I began seeing these rather odd looking rock formations. They became more and more concentrated as I drove- homes among these big rocks looked very small among them. Although they varied in size and shape, these rocks shared one characteristic- they all had ‘sides,’ being somewhat ‘squared-off.’ Then I noticed some that were not flat on the ground- either corners in the ground, or longer ones pointed skyward. At that point, I began to realize… Suddenly, the ‘Coyote vs. Roadrunner’ cartoon flashbacks hit me, full-force. I’d realized that these were not naturally occurring rock formations on the canyon floor. These were boulders- huge boulders that fell,… from…? I immediately leaned forward into the windshield, casting my gaze upward. There they were! In great numbers- many appearing quite eager to re-join their old friends where they could once again be together forever in their new lush, green home on the canyon floor below!… OK- I’m sure anyone reading this is wondering out loud, “Where is he going with this?” I’ll be glad to explain. Those humongous rocks look like they’ve been sitting where they are on the canyon floor for thousands of years- and probably have. But they used to be way up there, on the canyon rim. At some point in history- each one of those massive rocks weighing many hundreds, or even thousands of tons, was perched so precariously on the canyon rim in the hours or days before it fell naturally, that a child could’ve probably facilitated its abrupt relocation with the simple poke of a finger. Do ya see, Zack? I am acknowledging your connection! (More to follow)

  8. There was shown to be a direct correlation of local earthquake activity and deep well, high pressure injection of (waste) liquid made in the 1960s (pre 1967) in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal contractor (Shell Chemical was contractor for U. S. Government) injected toxic waste liquids under high pressure into 3000 foot deep wells northeast of Denver. The local earthquake activity was correlated very impressively with the volume of liquid waste pumped each day. Colorado School of Mines (CSM) seismologists identified the correlation after working with pumping records and CSM earthquake records. This was reported in the Denver Post newspaper and perhaps scientific and engineering journals. The Post published the impressive graphic correlations. After the correlation was found, the waste disposal pumping project was shuttered.
    Old Bob

  9. http://blog.aapg.org/learn/?p=793

    It’s a thrust fault under latent, stored compressive stress. There’s one huge slab of crust, many square miles in size and thousands of feet thick, that was pushed up over the neighboring rock in a mountain-building event. That big block is settling… adjusting… letting off pent-up stress. It has for millions of years and will continue to do so until it’s ground away to dust. It will produce small and shallow earthquakes. Shallow is the key. Shallow quakes don’t create the great s-wave movements that really bring buildings down.

    In response to some earlier posters’ questions: the gas deposits are there because of the faults. Thrust faults form huge folds that can trap oil and gas. The fault fractures surfaces themselves help form and seal some of the hydrocarbon traps. There will also be a lot of small-scale fractures out in front of the thrust fault front that enhance O&G production… they act as conduits. These types of traps have been targeted since the birth of the industry and have been hydraulically fractured in Oklahoma since the 40s.

    1. There is no way that hydraulic fracturing by the oil and gas industry causes earthquakes. Not possible. Period. This is all junk science. I can tell that 99% of you do not know what you are talking about.

      1. Fracking company: it’s highly “probable” fracking caused earthquakes in England (well, the waste water injection wells)

        Arkansas injection wells shut down, unprecedented # of earthquakes stop happening.

        I’m sorry, what?

        Oh, by the way, smoking absolutely doesn’t cause cancer… or so i once heard.

  10. IF FRACKING IS THE CULPRIT, WHAT ABOUT THE THOUSANDS OF SITES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY WHERE FRACKING HAS BEEN DONE FOR DECADES. IS THERE A MYSTERIOUS INCREASE IN EARTHQUAKES AT ALL THESE SITES?

    ARE THERE NATURAL CRACKS IN THE ROCK FORMATIONS WHICH COULD BE PART OF THE SAME SENARIO — MOVEMENT AT NATURAL CRACKS RESULTING EVENTUALLY IN A QUAKE.

    DO THE QUAKES IN THE REST OF THE EARTH HAVE ANY EFFECT ON THE FORMATIONS SURROUNDING THEM, CAUSING SOME MOVEMENT EVENTUALLY.

    HOW MANY QUAKES OCCUR IN THE DEEP OCEANS . ARE ALL THE FORMATIONS NOT CONNECTED? JUST CURIOUS.

    1. Even in California, Fracking has only been done in areas where there is already historic earthquake activity (many along the central San Andreas Fault zone). I ask the following question: is this where the gas reserves are, or is it where the earthquake activity will be less likely accredited to fracking?

    2. So I guess it is just a big mystery why we see a sudden increase of seismic activity and record quakes in the eastern US this year that just happen to be in the proximity of fracking activity. Plus, do you really think these groups are fully compliant with existing law? Do you think they just might be doing things we really don’t know about? Oh, we are the public and would just get all upset about things we don’t understand. Did it ever occurr to you that waste disposal is one of the most criminally lucrative activities on the planet now?

  11. You also should mention central Texas. I’ve lived in San Antonio, TX for over 30 years and we’ve never had a quake until the recent 4.8. It was attributed to tracking.

    1. btw, you only heard about the 4.6 in Oct 2011. Also, there was a >2 mag one just n.e. of the 4.8 at the beginning of 2011. There are many many quakes near Snyder and Ft Worth that happened in 2011 and before. A 4.8 should have been followed by a dozen aftershocks over the next day.

  12. The damage done will have to be to the point of no return before the media really picks this up. I have long felt this to be a horribly destructive and just plain terrible way to make money. I would not really consider myself a tree hugger per se, but I am terrified of this extraction method and what the long term results will be. Wake up and smell the methane!

    1. Yeah, I was just thinking seconds ago that it will take everyone forever (if ever) to account for the cost of these quakes when pricing or taxing natural gas. Natural gas is cheap now, largely bcs of fracking. But what are the external costs from earthquakes, polluted water, and so on that we aren’t taking into account?

  13. Thanks for finding my image and putting it on the top of this post! Get more attention to this issue, the Oklahoma government is blinded by their political supporters and don’t seem to really care what happens.

  14. Captain Pickguard

    Good work here and kudos for publishing a Fracking/Quake connection in OK. I love the visuals on this site. Visuals are a great way to quickly show a correlation that people will understand. I would suggest using data from the Oklahoma Geological Survey to overlay the 2010/2011 shale gas well completions with the seismic info on your map.
    OGS oil/gas page:
    http://www.ogs.ou.edu/level3-oilgas.php
    OGS Database of Shale Gas Wells:
    http://www.ogs.ou.edu/fossilfuels/xlsfiles/gasshalesdb.xls

    1. In this data about shale gas and horizontal wells I only see one well in Lincoln County. Many of these wells are miles away from the fault the 5.6 happened on. What’s up with that.

  15. You’ve got your facts wrong. In Arkansas, the injection disposal wells were associated with the earthquakes – not the natural gas production wells that are hydraulically fractured. THIS ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS! The injection wells are not fracked and were actually drilled as natural gas wells many years ago (before fracking ever started). They are used to dispose of the excess fracking fluid that returns after fracking is complete. It is wrong to say that fracking caused the Arkansas earthquakes, unless you want to say “indirectly”. How do I know this? I am geologist – and no, I do not work for the oil and gas industry.

    I don’t like fracking any more than you do, but you can’t win an argument if your facts are wrong!

    1. Seems to me that this still points to fracking, as practiced today, is the culprit. How many gallons of waste water gets stored on these sites? I don’t believe anyone can produce this number readily. I see the EPA plans to study it and issue rules at some point, but it would seem its likely in the billions of gallons overall, this seems like it could mean a massive amount per well. Is it enough to destabilize the geology? It would seem many believe so.

    2. If it is the re-injection of waste-water associated with fracking that is being linked to a rise in quakes, then fracking is still a culprit, as the waste-water (which is highly toxic and massive in quantity, hence the reason it is being disposed of underground and out-of-mind) is a direct result of fracking. This is an important issue and the natural gas industry is not the only industry seeking to dispose of highly toxic waste products via these older, abandoned wells. I have heard it is a method with burgeoning popularity for disposing of all kinds of unseemly side effects of our industrialized society, and that it is considered the more environmentally friendly form of waste disposal. Pray tell these practices come to light for debate, and may we brainstorm for alternatives.

  16. I have worked in the oil fracking industry for about 11 years…and when I first learned what it was I thought to myself “well….that can’t be good”… but… let’s think this through. Fracking dosn’t cause stress in the earths crust… it relieves it. When the rock is fractured in many differant places it allows the stress that is normaly there to relieve…a little… maybe it is preventing a massive quake that could happen later… Maybe it isn’t… Even though I work in the industry, and therefore my opinions may be clouded by that… I do believe that you have to think past the first thoughts….and delve deeper. I know that all companies are in buisness to make money… but the energy provided by oil and natural gas have let man live a life style that is truly amazing. Try living a month not supporting a large energy producing company…you can start by turning off your computer πŸ˜‰

    1. People have lived comfortable lives for thousands of years without the energy we have today. We have several RENEWABLE energy resources readily available to us right now: wind, water and the sun. We do not need to delve into the earth, destroy the environment or pollute the air and water when we have energy sources that are free and allow us to live the same lifestyle that we are living now.

    2. Captain Pickguard

      If a quake happens at one point on a fault – relieving stress – it will sometimes trigger a quake hundreds of miles away on the same fault system. If the stress is relieved in one place on the fault, it might cascade to the next pressure point. It happens in Southern California and all around the Pacific rim.

      OGS says only a small percentage of the gas-shale wells are fracked (5% iirc). Still this site has published a credible if not substantiated connection that deserves to be followed up. Our record on other environmental is very poor, and the closed doors Cheney energy commission that gave blanket immunities to the gas industry nearly a decade ago seems to point to the idea that there might be something objectionable about fracking. This is certainly worthy of further investigation.

  17. When I search for information relating the OK earthquakes to fracking, I find no credible sites with any information connecting the two. Why is it that only sites with names like Planetsave or Treehugger are saying this?

    1. There’s no study of the matter yet. So, you’re not going to find a definitive answer yet. But just as we were early reporting on a possible link between fracking and earthquakes in Arkansas (confirmed now) and have covered the link between fracking and earthquakes in England, we are early on the issue of fracking’s link to earthquakes in OK. Sorry for jumping the gun.. πŸ˜€

      1. Check out dailykos FishOutofWater over the next day or 2. I’m looking at some of the details.

        Do you have any evidence that gas is being produced near the largest earthquake? I have found no evidence of gas fracking in the area. However, I suspect this swarm has been induced by human activities.

  18. The stand of the corporate people is analogous to the owner of a hospital saying our doctors prescribing you bleach to fix stomach problems is probably not the cause of your new health issues.

    On a similar note wow causing rocks to crack !! The last time I hit a rock with a hammer my hand hurt from the vibration in the hammer. So lets get this straight – we’ve figured how to “dissolve”/crack the rocks beneath our feet that support everything above them and there is no relation to the ground above them shaking?

    And you know what the way fracking pollutes ground water may actually spur the water ordering industry – you know the one our over-sized government sponsors to send to our homes at cents on the dollar. /endSaracam

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