A 2011 earthquake that rattled Oklahoma and destroyed 14 homes was not only unusual -- it was probably unnatural, scientists say. Research published yesterday in the journal Geology links the quake -- the state's largest at magnitude 5.7 -- to underground injection of wastewater from nearby oil and gas production. It is the largest quake ever linked to injection.
Nine months after a National Academy of Sciences panel said oil and gas regulators should take steps to prevent man-made earthquakes, officials in key states are ignoring quake potential as they rewrite their drilling rules.
A new spate of barely felt earthquakes has geologists looking at whether oil and gas wastewater injection wells are causing temblors in north-central Arkansas once again. The wells are just outside the zone where state officials banned injection in 2011 in response to a swarm of much stronger earthquakes. Activity at the two wells rose after the nearby wells closed.
Sites in the United States and Canada with documented reports of quakes caused by or likely related to energy development from various energy technologies. The reporting of small induced seismic events is limited by the detection and location thresholds of local surface-based seismic monitoring networks. Click to enlarge. Map courtesy of National Research Council.
A surge in seismic activity is occurring around the U.S., and many top scientists are pointing at injection of waste from drilling and hydraulic fracturing as a possible culprit.