Oklahomans Feel Way More Earthquakes Than Californians; Now They Know Why

[FSogol]

A magnitude-3.0 earthquake is small, but most people can feel it. Historically, Oklahoma got less than two of those a year, but in 2013 it became two a week.

It's only gotten more active since then — last year, the state had three times as many earthquakes as in the entire seismically active state of California.

This morning, the U.S. Geological Survey will issue its first comprehensive assessment of the hazard posed by earthquakes linked to oil and gas drilling. In the preliminary report, the survey details oil and gas-related quakes in eight states.

The earthquake surge is strongest in Oklahoma, where the state government has formally acknowledged the link for the first time earlier this week.

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/23/401624166/oklahomans-feel-way-more-earthquakes-than-californians-now-they-know-why

3200 fracking wells = 2-3 earthquakes a day. 3 times as many as California. When they remake all those disaster movies that show California falling into the ocean, they'll have to substituent Oklahoma.

[tularetom]

1. How is it going to fall into the ocean, its right smack in the middle of the country

I guess it could just sink down into the earth and leave a big odd shaped hole in the map of the US.

[FSogol]

2. The Oklahoma sink hole? Maybe it could take Texas along with it?

[Politicalboi]

3. Don't get our hopes up

[stuffmatters]

4. Miss Oklahoma runway introduction "from the state that is shaking it up with the most earthquakes"

Like that's something to be proud of. Yea, like " suck it California, we're winning..."

It was The definitely stupidfunny moment watching Miss America this year.

[FSogol]

5. When life gives you lemons.... or when the gas companies put waste water....

[Midnight Writer]

6. Not just Oklahoma. Anywhere fracking is rampant. i.e. Ohio

Who would ever imagine that filling the earth with tons of acid to dissolve the bedrock in order to release pockets of oil would result in unstable ground beneath our feet?

Oh well, I am sure that at least the common folk of Oklahoma will benefit from the profits made by raping their land. You know, just like the people of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky are now so fabulously wealthy from the mountain top removals in their land.

[bananas]

7. Another dustbowl is coming, too.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/02/3572205/warming-dust-bowlify/

Unchecked Warming To Dust-Bowlify Southwest, Central Plains, Amazon, Europe For Centuries

by Joe Romm Oct 2, 2014 3:36pm

The unprecedented drought in California will become commonplace for the Southwest, Central Plains, and much of the currently inhabited and arable land around the world in the second half of the century — if humanity stays anywhere near our current path of carbon pollution emissions. Several recent studies spell this out in great detail.

<snip>

We do know it will get much, much hotter than the 1930s Dust Bowl. And that the droughts will last much longer than one decade. A study last month found that by failing to curb carbon pollution, humans are dramatically increasing the chances of multi-decade megadroughts that in the past have overturned entire civilizations.

<snip>