The 837th Quake Strikes Oklahoma in 2014

SEISMIC HAZARD
HEIGHTENED SEISMICITY IN OKLAHOMA
SCENARIOS 09, 08, 07
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‘It feels like the earth is opening up and you are falling’

At least 837 earthquakes measuring magnitude  2.5 or greater have struck the state of Oklahoma, so far this year, according to the USGS archives.

At least 285 of the quakes measured 3.0Mw, or greater. This compares with only 277 quakes that occurred during the previous 14 years.

“The houses are bouncing. It is frightening,” said the information manager for the Oklahoma Corporations Commission, the state regulator for the oil and gas industry.

Fracking Oklahoma to Death

More than 90 percent of Oklahoma produces oil and gas, and the industry’s wastewater is injected into thousands of disposal wells, usually old gas wells, around the state, said a report. “Scientific studies have shown wastewater activity may cause quakes when occurring near geologic faults.”

However, regulators still claim ignorance concerning the link between the disposal wells, and the spike in the seismic activity.

“It feels like the earth is opening up and you are falling,” said a resident in Guthrie, a town of about 11,000 people, located 40km west of Oklahoma City, which has been hit by at least 11 quakes M3.0 or greater, so far this month. “It’s scary.”

Related Links

• Intense Seismicity Resumes in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oklahoma Posted on July 13, 2014
• Earthquakes Strike California, New York, Oklahoma… Posted on July 6, 2014
• U.S. West Shaking Like Jelly  June 30, 2014
• Two More Significant Quakes Strike Near OK City Posted on June 2, 2014
• Significant Quakes Strike Alaska, Hawaii, Oklahoma Posted on May 10, 2014
• Another Shallow Quake Strikes Oklahoma Posted on April 6, 2014
• Significant Quakes Strike Oklahoma, Wyoming Posted on March 30, 2014