Confirmed: Oklahoma Earthquakes Caused By Fracking
Confirmed: Oklahoma Earthquakes Caused By Fracking
Anastasia Pantsios | April 23, 2015 10:26 am
Despite the enormous increase in earthquakes in Oklahoma that started at the same time as heavy fracking began there—with the number of earthquakes over 3.0 magnitude skyrocketing from an average of less than two a year to 585 last year—the state has been in official denial about the cause.
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“Oklahoma experienced 585 magnitude 3+ earthquakes in 2014 compared to 109 events recorded in 2013.” Note: Only Earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 and higher are displayed. Map credit: Oklahoma Office Of The Secretary Of Energy & Environment
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Now the state has not only admitted that the injection into deep underground wells of fluid byproducts from drilling operations is behind the quakes, but it put up a website titled Earthquakes in Oklahoma that is a “one-stop source for information on earthquakes in Oklahoma.” The site includes an interactive map that displays the dramatic change not only in the number of earthquakes but in their distribution. Instead of a scattering around the state, they’re clustered heavily in areas where drilling operations are disposing of fracking wastewater.
The new website says, in a post dated April 21, “The Oklahoma Geological Survey announced today the majority of recent earthquakes in central and north-central Oklahoma are likely triggered by the injection of produced water in disposal wells.”
“Oklahoma experienced 585 magnitude 3+ earthquakes in 2014 compared to 109 events recorded in 2013,” it says on the front page. “This rise in seismic events has the attention of scientists, citizens, policymakers, media and industry. See what information and research state officials and regulators are relying on as the situation progresses.”
More:
http://ecowatch.com/2015/04/23/oklahoma-earthquakes-caused-by-fracking/