I think they said on the news last night that there were 4 or 5 yesterday. Don't quote me because I was fooling around on Pinterest and only half-way paying attention.
7 in 14 hours.
7 in 14 hours.
Jeez, she just said "Don't quote me" excat.
What's causing all of this? Earth's magnetic field change, hydraulic fracking, two dinasaurs getting frisky...???
It's not hydraulic fracking that's been linked to the recent surge in the number of earthquakes, but rather the creation and use of subterranean disposal wells. What do these wells contain? Waste hydraulic fluids produced by... hydraulic fracking.
I read somewhere of an excellent analogy highlighting the possible role of these disposal wells in earthquake formation. Basically, picture an air hockey table that's been turned off; put the puck on the middle of the table, and tilt the table. The puck stays put because of friction; you can equate the undisturbed layers of the earth to this condition. Now turn on the hockey table so air flows, and the puck slides to, and bangs into, the lower end - this is akin to the injecting of fluids between the earth's layers and the resultant earthquakes.
Hey Perplexed, that's great info. I did not know that. I was actually amused by the new quake and was just mouthing off. As for the disposal wells. Are these newly drilled wells into formations that have never produced oil or gas? Or are these depleted oil and/or gas wells? I'm just curious because it seems if we put waste liquid back into the ground where some kind of liquid came from...or a gas under pressure came from...I don't understand how or why the earthquakes happen as a result of disposal wells. Do we inject the liquid at rediculously high pressures? If so I can see how the hydraulics of that would or could move things around.
The fracking companies are not allowed to use the same cavities from which they extracted the oil or gas, basically because those cavities are "open-ended" - that is, injecting disposal wastes could result in uncontrolled, wide-spread contamination of shallow aquifers and even surface water. They have to use concrete-lined wells that, theoretically, inject the wastes much deeper into the earth. The problem is these waste liquids then migrate between previously-anchored layers of the earth, especially when very high pressure is used during the injection process, causing the layers to separate and slide past each other. Presto, earthquakes.
Not that I can determine. If you look at where the majority of these are originating from (Guthrie/Jones/Langston area) what you will see is a very noticeable lack of drilling/injection activity compared to other areas that have a crapload of activity going on.
And I don't know where the "can't inject in the same area" came from either, the drilling companies just can't truck all this water very far for disposal without really jacking up prices, so it's always relatively close to where they are drilling. In some areas they will drill an injection well before they drill a production well.
Those greenies sure are persistent aren't they?
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