Shale Shocked: ‘Remarkable Increase’ In U.S. Earthquakes ‘Almost Certainly Manmade,’ USGS Scientists

[MindMover]

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team has found that a sharp jump in earthquakes in America’s heartland appears to be linked to oil and natural gas drilling operations.

As hydraulic fracturing has exploded onto the scene, it has increasingly been connected to earthquakes. Some quakes may be caused by the original fracking — that is, by injecting a fluid mixture into the earth to release natural gas (or oil). More appear to be caused by reinjecting the resulting brine deep underground.
Last August, a USGS report examined a cluster of earthquakes in Oklahoma and reported:

Our analysis showed that shortly after hydraulic fracturing began small earthquakes started occurring, and more than 50 were identified, of which 43 were large enough to be located. Most of these earthquakes occurred within a 24 hour period after hydraulic fracturing operations had ceased.

In November, a British shale gas developer found it was “highly probable” its fracturing operations caused minor quakes.

Then last month, Ohio oil and gas regulators said “A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth.”

Now, in a paper to be deliver at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America, the USGS notes that “a remarkable increase in the rate of [magnitude 3.0] and greater earthquakes is currently in progress” in the U.S. midcontinent. The abstract is online. EnergyWire reports (subs. req’d) some of the findings:

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/04/06/459711/shale-shocked-increase-midcontinent-earthquakes-almost-certainly-manmade-usgs-report/

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[nykym]

1. The volatile nature of one of our

Last edited Fri Apr 6, 2012, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

most prized national treasures, the Yellowstone geysers, alarmingly close to the noxious earthquake producing hydrofracking nightmare - a recipe for catastrophic destruction.

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[MindMover]

2. WOW...........what can anyone say.....DISASTER.....WHOA..........

[zbdent]

3. anti-enviromentalist Repugs: "It needs more study ... meanwhile, libs are killing jobs!

on a side note, 1+1=2 needs more study."

[TalkingDog]

4. But the increase isn't in lower magnitude earthquakes. It's in the 4.0 and above range.

I could see this as a valid point if it were causing lots of small quakes, but 4.0+ is pretty substantial.

http://research.dlindquist.com/quake/historical/?mag=0&type=num&freq=year&style=raw

A great overview of various parameters involving earthquakes from 1973 to present.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Fault lubrication. We've known about this effect since the 70's at least.