Current:Home > BackOklahoma’s Largest Earthquake Linked to Oil and Gas Industry Actions 3 Years Earlier, Study Says-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Oklahoma’s Largest Earthquake Linked to Oil and Gas Industry Actions 3 Years Earlier, Study Says
View Date:2025-01-11 02:07:19
The strongest earthquake in Oklahoma’s history likely was caused by oil and gas operators injecting vastly increased amounts of toxic wastewater underground three years before it struck, a new study suggests.
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed injection data from the most active disposal wells in the area where the 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit last September. They found that there had been a sudden and dramatic increase in the amount of wastewater injected in the first half of 2013 at some of the wells.
That contributed “a fair amount of stress on the fault and would have accelerated the natural faulting process significantly,” said Andrew Barbour, a USGS geophysicist who led the study.
The research was published Tuesday in a special edition of the journal Seismological Research Letters that focused on the earthquake, which struck the town of Pawnee on Sept. 3, damaging dozens of buildings.
The findings expand on the growing consensus among scientists that the earthquake spike rattling America’s midsection is linked to the oil and gas drilling boom. The research suggests that even years after heightened activity takes place, the risk of a big earthquake can remain.
Thousands of quakes have hit Oklahoma and other states since 2009, when oil and gas production began to skyrocket. The boom, both in fracking and conventional production, has led to much more wastewater and has prompted increased levels of disposal.
Previous studies have suggested that proximity to wells, total injected volume and injection rate all can influence local seismicity. But the Pawnee earthquake puzzled scientists because it didn’t fit the usual pattern of occurring near the state’s most recently active disposal wells or near a particularly dense cluster of wells. State regulators had even issued several directives last spring mandating operators to reduce their total disposal activity in high-earthquake zones. By mid-2016, total earthquake rates had gone down.
The USGS scientists found that among the nine wells it analyzed in a 9-mile radius, the pattern of injection activity at two wells less than 5 miles from the quake’s center stood out. Activity at these wells went from being inactive to having up to 288,000 and 404,000 barrels of waste, respectively, being injected per month within the first half of 2013. By late 2016, however, injection rates at both wells had tapered back to around zero. Meanwhile, the rates of injection of wastewater at the other nearby wells has been relatively constant since 2012.
Using theoretical modeling, the researchers found that rapid increases in wastewater injection generated more pressure and stress on the geological system than steady injection rates, conditions that raise the risk of an earthquake.
Mark Zoback, a Stanford University geophysicist who was not involved in the study, called it “a very interesting result.”
“The most important part of the study is the concept that, in addition to the pressure that results from injection in Oklahoma, the pressure rate also controls the seismicity,” he said. “We’ve kind of known this in a general sense, and what they are trying to do is apply a very specific model to show in one particular case that the rate of injection had a significant effect.”
According to the latest USGS earthquake hazard map, about 3.5 million people, mostly in central Oklahoma and southern Kansas, are at high risk of experiencing a damaging man-made earthquake this year. Following the Pawnee quake, Oklahoma regulators ordered operators to immediately shut down 32 wells, and reduce the level of injection at many more, within a zone of 1,116 square miles. That mandate remains in place.
This research offers some intriguing prospects for how to improve the state’s earthquake response measures—such as requiring operators to have steady rates of injection instead of variable ones. But Zoback says it’s too early for that discussion.
“That’s what needs to be looked at more carefully,” he said. “You don’t start with a single modeling paper and immediately go to a regulation, right? So this is a beginning of the process and … we aren’t there yet.”
veryGood! (25)
Related
- Footage shows Oklahoma officer throwing 70-year-old to the ground after traffic ticket
- Livestreamer Kai Cenat charged after giveaway chaos at New York's Union Square Park
- Missing Oregon woman found dead after hiking in the heat in Phoenix
- When Concertgoers Attack: All the Stars Who've Been Hit With Objects at Their Shows
- Tennessee fugitive accused of killing a man and lying about a bear chase is caught in South Carolina
- CBS News poll finds after latest Trump indictment, many Americans see implications for democracy. For some, it's personal
- 2 killed, 3 injured in Long Beach boat fire: Fire department
- Your HSA isn't just for heath care now. Here are 3 ways it can help you in retirement.
- UConn, Kansas State among five women's college basketball games to watch this weekend
- People are losing more money to scammers than ever before. Here’s how to keep yourself safe
Ranking
- NFL overreactions: New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys going nowhere after Week 10
- Nightengale's Notebook: Cardinals' Adam Wainwright chases milestone in final season
- Analysis: Coco Gauff’s Washington title shows she is ready to contend at the US Open
- A firefighting helicopter crashed in Southern California while fighting a blaze, officials say
- Keke Palmer Says Ryan Murphy “Ripped” Into Her Over Scream Queens Schedule
- What caused an Alaskan glacier to cause major flooding near Juneau
- Opera singer David Daniels and husband plead guilty to sexual assault of singer
- Lucas Glover overcomes yips to win 2023 Wyndham Championship on PGA Tour
Recommendation
-
Birth control and abortion pill requests have surged since Trump won the election
-
Probe of whether police inaction contributed to any deaths in Robb attack is stalled
-
Three Stories From A Very Hot July
-
An Indigenous leader has inspired an Amazon city to grant personhood to an endangered river
-
Seattle man faces 5 assault charges in random sidewalk stabbings
-
Horoscopes Today, August 6, 2023
-
Austria's leader wants to make paying with cash a constitutional right
-
Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $260 Crossbody Bag for Just $59