Earthquake Issues Expand in Oklahoma

The US Geological Survey has issued it's first earthquake warning for a state east of the Rockies. Oklahoma has gone from an average of two 3.0+ earthquakes a year (1978 - 2008) to 183 (last seven months, or nearly 400 per year) since fracking operations began, and this has led to an increased possibility of a larger (5.0+) more damaging quake in the foreseeable future. This year, Oklahoma has had more earthquakes than California, and it has seen a 50% increase in quakes over 2013.

Pretty amazing. Will this kind of data stop fracking in it's tracks?

Edit - The information in my latest post below shows that 3.0 quakes and above have now hit two per day; if smaller quakes are included, Oklahoma now has more quakes per year than California...

This has been a topic in Ohio as the government has shut down fracking operations here because of earthquakes. Now if they register an earthquake the fracking has to be halted.

Gods help us if the Koch Brothers discover natural gas around the Yellowstone Caldera.

Lava drives the earth's engine, man. It's natural. And if we just wait until it blows up, all that natural gas will just be *wasted*. Might as well frack it out now, it's not like we can stop it exploding anyway. And of course, those explosions are natural - there was no fracking several hundred thousand years ago, and it *still* blew up.

We all know your fear-mongering is making you rich, anyway.

Robear wrote:

Lava drives the earth's engine, man. It's natural. And if we just wait until it blows up, all that natural gas will just be *wasted*. Might as well frack it out now, it's not like we can stop it exploding anyway. And of course, those explosions are natural - there was no fracking several hundred thousand years ago, and it *still* blew up.

We all know your fear-mongering is making you rich, anyway.

It's all in God's Plan(tm)

Robear wrote:

Pretty amazing. Will this kind of data stop fracking in it's tracks?

Of course. Just like the scientific data about smoking stopped it. And the scientific data about carbon emissions and global warming has halted building and using coal fired energy plants. People respond reasonably and intelligently when science warns them about things that maintain their lifestyle. They respond by changing their lifestyles to take into account the new information.

Sorry, what planet did you say you were from?

farley3k wrote:
Robear wrote:

Pretty amazing. Will this kind of data stop fracking in it's tracks?

Of course. Just like the scientific data about smoking stopped it. And the scientific data about carbon emissions and global warming has halted building and using coal fired energy plants. People respond reasonably and intelligently when science warns them about things that maintain their lifestyle. They respond by changing their lifestyles to take into account the new information.

Sorry, what planet did you say you were from?

I suspect this will likely be the response.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-most-hon...

This is pretty cool to see this much traction.
There was a big (not really, just first I felt) in Norman my senior year.
Remember it waking me up when I was skipping class.
And then I worked for CHK. Briefly.

farley3k wrote:

Sorry, what planet did you say you were from?

The one where people ask non-rhetorical questions?

Seriously, if this kind of change does not grab people's attention, the next thing is that the state starts to experience damaging earthquakes. How long will citizens put up with that?

Perhaps I am just pessimistic today but I think the industries which make huge amounts of money from fracking will keep pushing "doubt" as to the cause and the public won't do anything.

Seriously look at the vast number of things which we can scientifically say are true that the public still doesn't believe - number one evolution, but you can also look at the anti-vaccine movement, global climate change, etc. to see numerous issues that people still don't believe in because they can't grasp what a "theory" means.

Is the situation so clear cut with fracking that there won't be that sliver of doubt? And as long as that exists - and money to be made people won't stop.

Although as I said perhaps I am just having a pessimistic day. Probably from watching the Daily Show talking about Fox's manufactured outrage about Bengazi.

Robear wrote:

Seriously, if this kind of change does not grab people's attention, the next thing is that the state starts to experience damaging earthquakes. How long will citizens put up with that?

I expect we will see funding to 'scientists' who claim that there have *always* been tremors like this, away from fault lines, and that there is no reason to believe that the fact that fracking activity began shortly before these earthquakes started points to any kind of a causal relationship and America needs the energy that tracking supplies don't you love America shutting fracking down is like shooting your grandmother and all she wanted to do was bake you a delicious apple pie you monster.

Dimmerswitch wrote:
Robear wrote:

Seriously, if this kind of change does not grab people's attention, the next thing is that the state starts to experience damaging earthquakes. How long will citizens put up with that?

I expect we will see funding to 'scientists' who claim that there have *always* been tremors like this, away from fault lines, and that there is no reason to believe that the fact that fracking activity began shortly before these earthquakes started points to any kind of a causal relationship and America needs the energy that tracking supplies don't you love America shutting fracking down is like shooting your grandmother and all she wanted to do was bake you a delicious apple pie you monster.

You might even get a few industry sponsored studies stating that earthquakes are good.

Paleocon wrote:
Dimmerswitch wrote:
Robear wrote:

Seriously, if this kind of change does not grab people's attention, the next thing is that the state starts to experience damaging earthquakes. How long will citizens put up with that?

I expect we will see funding to 'scientists' who claim that there have *always* been tremors like this, away from fault lines, and that there is no reason to believe that the fact that fracking activity began shortly before these earthquakes started points to any kind of a causal relationship and America needs the energy that tracking supplies don't you love America shutting fracking down is like shooting your grandmother and all she wanted to do was bake you a delicious apple pie you monster.

You might even get a few industry sponsored studies stating that earthquakes are good.

Earthquakes create jobs!

Rebuilding is great for the economy!

IMAGE(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrRqbRGVoG0/U1yNMX8UTdI/AAAAAAAABGQ/5fNDWMGSoPk/s1600/Cosmos+Kehoe.jpg)
"There's no evidence that there are more earthquakes than before. Also, lead is naturally found in baby food."

I do see why one would be pessimistic about this having any real effect. But I think earthquakes in the continental US will be harder to ignore than disappearing island states at the back end of who-cares-where.

ETA

This is actually a topic pretty close to my heart too. We have significant natural gas deposits and Shell has been given clearance to start small scale work. It can be a significant economic driver, but the consequences have me worried. There is so much FUD around the topic.

NPR did a report on this not too long ago as well. When i get time i'll try and look it up.

We had an earthquake here in Oregon a few weeks ago. My wife was looking up the epicenter on the USGS site while I looked over her shoulder. When we came to the national map of earthquake events, we both stopped and went: "What the hell is happening in Oklahoma?" It was just covered in little earthquake locator dots. This isn't a minor effect. We're not talking 10% more than usual.

And the data continues to roll in. As well, Oklahoma has had damaging quakes, now. I guess they like their gas and oil money more than their houses...

New Yorker Article wrote:

Until 2008, Oklahoma experienced an average of one to two earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or greater each year. (Magnitude-3.0 earthquakes tend to be felt, while smaller earthquakes may be noticed only by scientific equipment or by people close to the epicenter.) In 2009, there were twenty. The next year, there were forty-two. In 2014, there were five hundred and eighty-five, nearly triple the rate of California. Including smaller earthquakes in the count, there were more than five thousand. This year, there has been an average of two earthquakes a day of magnitude 3.0 or greater.

William Ellsworth, a research geologist at the United States Geological Survey, told me, “We can say with virtual certainty that the increased seismicity in Oklahoma has to do with recent changes in the way that oil and gas are being produced.” Many of the larger earthquakes are caused by disposal wells, where the billions of barrels of brackish water brought up by drilling for oil and gas are pumped back into the ground. (Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—in which chemically treated water is injected into the earth to fracture rocks in order to access oil and gas reserves—causes smaller earthquakes, almost always less than 3.0.) Disposal wells trigger earthquakes when they are dug too deep, near or into basement rock, or when the wells impinge on a fault line. Ellsworth said, “Scientifically, it’s really quite clear.”

That is nuts! I grew up in Southern California and could not imagine earthquakes at triple the rate. Not that it would have effected us much as we are so blase' about quakes here. But still, wow!

Oklahoma: now with Tornados and Earthquakes!
We're working on Tsunamis but we need this global warming thing to speed up first.

As long as shareholders houses aren't collapsing then everything is A-OK.