Oklahoma Geological Survey: Earthquakes linked to oil and gas activity
(April 21, 2015) Residents in Enid and the surrounding area are experiencing shaking like they never have before. Enid Buzz gets reports weekly from our readers that feel the stronger earthquakes. The Enid Buzz Facebook page gets a huge spike in engagement every time there is a quake that rattles the city.
The Oklahoma Geological Survey has released a statement that it is "very likely" that most of the state's recent earthquakes are being triggered by the subsurface injection of wastewater from oil and natural gas drilling operations.
Most residents in Oklahoma have taken a side as to whether the increased earthquakes are caused by the gas and oil industry or if it's just the natural process of the earth. Without hard evidence either way Oklahomans have been left wondering if this is something that can be prevented or if there are larger rumblings on the way.
A statement released by state geologist Richard D. Andrews and Dr. Austen Holland, state seismologist, said the rate of earthquakes and geographical trends around major oil and gas drilling operations that produce large amounts of wastewater indicate the earthquakes "are very unlikely to represent a naturally occurring process."
The survey said the "primary suspected source" of the temblors is not hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which is the practice of injecting fluid under high pressure to create cracks in deep-rock formations so natural gas and oil will flow more freely during drilling. It said the source is more likely the injection in disposal wells of wastewater produced as a byproduct of fracking.
Earthquake activity in Oklahoma in 2013 was 70 times greater than the rate of earthquakes prior to 2008. The seismicity rate is now about 600 times greater than the background seismicity rate, and is very unlikely the result of a natural process.
Geologists historically recorded an average of 1.5 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater each year. The state is now recording an average of 2.5 magnitude 3 or greater earthquakes each day, according to geologists.
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