This is why I ask, I've got several deep well injections around me, but no epicenters here either, none with in 20-30 miles at the closest usually..........but I'm no geologist either.
This is why I ask, I've got several deep well injections around me, but no epicenters here either, none with in 20-30 miles at the closest usually..........but I'm no geologist either.
Chuck norris doing jumping jacks
Yep, NW, western and southern OK has a bunch of drilling, while having drastically fewer quakes. The math doesn't add up. I'm not a geologist either but I do know a few through my work. I work in the industry, so I try to keep myself apprised of what may come.
I'm not sure how anyone can say the recent spate of earthquakes isn't linked to the practice of injection wells. Here are several links to studies and stories about this link:
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/man-made-earthquakes/
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/08/06/correlation-injection-wells-small-earthquakes/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/energy-earthquake-oklahoma-idUSL2N0M80SP20140311
http://space.io9.com/oklahoma-now-has-more-small-earthquakes-than-california-1599860734
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/3072
Just because a few injection wells don't seem to be linked to any nearby earthquakes doesn't mean the practice of injecting waste fluids deep within the earth, as a whole, is unrelated to the dramatic uptick in the incidence of earthquakes in Oklahoma. I thought this image from one of the linked stories was rather interesting; the blue dots indicate earthquakes recorded from 1970 to about 2006 (36 years) and the red dots indicate earthquakes recorded between 2006 and 2014 (8 years). Quite the difference!
Can anyone provide data that links this recent increase in seismic activity to anything else?
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/man-made-earthquakes/
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/08/06/correlation-injection-wells-small-earthquakes/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/energy-earthquake-oklahoma-idUSL2N0M80SP20140311
http://space.io9.com/oklahoma-now-has-more-small-earthquakes-than-california-1599860734
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/3072
Just because a few injection wells don't seem to be linked to any nearby earthquakes doesn't mean the practice of injecting waste fluids deep within the earth, as a whole, is unrelated to the dramatic uptick in the incidence of earthquakes in Oklahoma. I thought this image from one of the linked stories was rather interesting; the blue dots indicate earthquakes recorded from 1970 to about 2006 (36 years) and the red dots indicate earthquakes recorded between 2006 and 2014 (8 years). Quite the difference!
Can anyone provide data that links this recent increase in seismic activity to anything else?
Good articles and maps. I'll still go with natural seismic activity, as a couple of the articles suggest. I just think it's too bold of us to think that man can squirt water in the ground and make is shake, lol.
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I tend to agree with you.
I'm not sure how anyone can say the recent spate of earthquakes isn't linked to the practice of injection wells. Here are several links to studies and stories about this link:
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/man-made-earthquakes/
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/08/06/correlation-injection-wells-small-earthquakes/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/energy-earthquake-oklahoma-idUSL2N0M80SP20140311
http://space.io9.com/oklahoma-now-has-more-small-earthquakes-than-california-1599860734
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/3072
Just because a few injection wells don't seem to be linked to any nearby earthquakes doesn't mean the practice of injecting waste fluids deep within the earth, as a whole, is unrelated to the dramatic uptick in the incidence of earthquakes in Oklahoma. I thought this image from one of the linked stories was rather interesting; the blue dots indicate earthquakes recorded from 1970 to about 2006 (36 years) and the red dots indicate earthquakes recorded between 2006 and 2014 (8 years). Quite the difference!
Can anyone provide data that links this recent increase in seismic activity to anything else?
Yes those pics are revealing, it shows an uptrend in activity. That's it, nothing else. And I just love how they don't overlay the well locations so everybody can see how they don't in fact relate. You do realize that we've been fracking and injecting since the '40s? And that drilling in general has been going on far longer?
And we are not injecting "deep into the earth". 10,000 to 12,000 feet is barely scratching the surface actually.
This morning's (7/15) two tremblors in the Harrah area (~ 2am & 4am) are reported to have caused some broken windows on Main Street, according to a radio news report I heard.
Here's a story where they show the distribution of injection wells ("Class II Wells" in the diagram) as well as shale wells (where they extract oil and gas) in Oklahoma http://miningawareness.wordpress.co...s-and-earthquakes-in-oklahoma-a-usgs-warning/
The diagram, about 2/3 of the way down the page, shows the presence of these injection wells mostly in the western half of the state, with the preponderance down the middle third of the state. I used Photoshop to superimpose the diagram onto the image of Oklahoma seismicity from 1970 to 2014, and the results are below.
Not a perfect correlation by any means, but the link between injection wells and increased seismicity is the most convincing one I've heard so far. If anyone has any better theories as to why we've seen many more quakes in Oklahoma these past couple of years as compared to the forty or so years prior to that, I'd love to hear them.
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