Study Links Hundreds Of Ohio Quakes To Fracking

[eridani]

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2014/10/study-links-hundreds-of-ohio-quakes-to-fracking?et_cid=4210243&et_rid=54679148&type=cta



A new study suggests fracking triggered hundreds of small, unnoticeable earthquakes in eastern Ohio late last year, months before the state first linked seismic activity to the much-debated oil-and-gas extraction technique.

The report, which appears in the November issue of the journal Seismological Research Letters, identified nearly 400 tremors on a previously unmapped fault in Harrison County between Oct. 1 and Dec. 13, 2013.

That included 10 quakes of magnitudes of 1.7 to 2.2. That's intense enough to have temporarily halted activity under Ohio's new drilling permit rules had they been in place at the time, but is still considered minor.

The quakes fell along a fault lying directly under three hydraulic fracturing operations and tended to coincide with nearby activity, researchers found. About 190 quakes were detected in a single three-day period last October, beginning within hours of the start offracking. None of the quakes was reported felt by people.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said the state has installed seismic monitoring equipment throughout eastern Ohio over the past year and is keeping close watch for earthquakes strong enough to be felt.

Fracking involves the high-pressure injection of water, sand, and chemicals into shale to break up the rock and release trapped oil and gas.

Rowena Lohman, an assistant professor of geophysics at Cornell University who was not involved in the study, said some faults cannot be discovered until underground activity is attempted. She said the latest findings can be used to try to prevent worse quakes.

[Downwinder]

1. Can you get earthquake insurance in Ohio?

You can in Oklahoma now.

[RiverLover]

2. Yep, but no one is buying it.

http://www.ideastream.org/news/feature/despite-fracking-tie-ohioans-largely-pass-on-earthquake-insurance

[Downwinder]

3. A lot don't get flood insurance.

Fraking is not going to stop. So quakes will keep on.

[marions ghost]

4. People are idiots

to allow fracking on their land.