Thursday, June 19, 2014

Oklahoma had a 30 year average of two small earthquakes per year. In 2013 they had 109 of much greater force. The reason? Fracking.

Courtesy of the LA Times: 

When Austin Holland was being considered for his job as the sole seismologist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey in 2009, his interviewer posed a wry question: "Are you going to be able to entertain yourself as a seismologist in Oklahoma?" 

Back then, the state had a 30-year average of only two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher per year. As it turns out, though, boredom has been the least of Holland's concerns. Over the last five years, the state has had thousands of earthquakes — an unprecedented increase that has made it the second-most seismically active state in the continental United States, behind California. 

The state had 109 temblors measuring 3.0 or greater in 2013 — more than 5,000% above normal. There have already been more than 200 earthquakes this year, Holland said. 

Scientists have never observed such a dramatic swarm of earthquakes "in what's considered a stable continental interior," Holland said. "Whatever we're looking at, it's completely unprecedented." 

Oklahoma has always had the potential for earthquakes; it has a complex underlying fault system. But until recently, the most powerful quake of the modern era was a 5.5-magnitude temblor in 1952 that left a 15-meter crack in the state Capitol. 

Scientists say the more likely cause of the recent increase is underground injection wells drilled by the oil and gas industry. About 80% of the state is within nine miles of an injection well, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

Of course Oklahoma is not alone. Texas is experiencing the exact same problem.

And in fact so are just about every state where fracking is taking place. 

This is my first post of the day folks, and I am going to post all kinds of information today.

But to be honest I am not sure that anything else I am going to share is going to be as important as this story is, so please help to spread this information far and wide.

We are literally shaking our planet to pieces in the attempt to dredge up fossil fuels and inject them into our atmosphere in order to destroy our climate. These are the actions of the clinically insane.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:35 AM

    Dear Gryphen,
    Thank you so much for posting this information on your website. It is so important for people to know about the not so obvious effects of this industry and what it does to our planet, let alone our communities.

    Another critical factor involved in fracking is it's need for millions of gallons of water. Articles cite anywhere from several hundred thousand gallons of water to several million gallons of water needed PER WELL for the various aspects of the original drilling of the well to the extraction of the natural gas or oil they are going after.

    One may think this is not a problem, except that once they use the water it is lost forever to the water cycle as it is completely tainted with the toxic chemicals needed to create these fracking wells, chemicals that the companies claim are proprietary and thus they don't have to tell us what those chemicals are.

    Anyway, this tainted water is no longer able to be used to water food crops, or feed livestock, or to be used for our homes or recreational purposes. It cannot be cleaned up, and so one of the things these companies do to get rid of it is to inject it into old idle wells that are no longer being used. This also is thought to contribute to the earthquakes we are reading about.

    So whether or not you are for fracking, please understand it's devastating results on one of our most precious aspects of life, fresh water, something the entire planet and all of its inhabitants need to survive.

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  2. Anonymous3:06 AM

    After talking to some local people who work in the industry, I'm convinced they know exactly what they are doing. They just don't care. I've noticed people in the industry call the process by the complete name. They use the term "fracturing" and not the less threatening sounding abbreviation "Fracking."
    I don't remember ever having earthquakes in Texas in the past forty years, but we have them now. Along with extreme draught and a slew of other very difficult conditions.

    TexasMel

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  3. Anonymous4:33 AM

    Hi Gryphen - Connie here.

    I'm wondering if any one source has tracked all the fracking sites and earthquakes across state lines. I guess specifically I'm curious about what would happen if all those cracks and fissures would connect with those in Wyoming and into Montana and the Yellowstone super caldera.

    I know the technical capability exists to run computer models; at least I think I know that. I've watched computer models of how the Universe and galaxies were formed. Has anyone focused that knowledge on planet Earth? I've done some amatuer sleuthing but my computer skills are limited by what I don't know.

    Thank you for being a voice of intelligence in a sea of chaos. You totally rock. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:30 AM

      Hi, I found no computer models but here are a few websites that track fracking across the US. Some have maps showing data such as current and proposed fracking, some are text pages listing fracking activity by state. Hope this helps.

      I googled "map of fracking activity us" and it gave lots of results but these seemed to be the most comprehensive.

      http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states

      http://www.fractracker.org/map/

      http://www.nrdc.org/health/drilling/

      http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fracking

      Delete
    2. hedgewytch8:31 AM

      Yep. A very huge and possible concern. These Oil and Gas folks think they live in a sheltered bubble. I don't care how much money you have, you still need to drink clean water and you need to have stable land to walk on.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:17 AM

    Most of the crude oil in the United States is stored in Cushing, Oklahoma and if the XL pipeline is approved, it will run through Cushing. Cushing is located very close to the area where the swarms of earthquakes are occurring.

    http://www.okgeosurvey1.gov/pages/earthquakes/recent-earthquakes.php

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  5. Anonymous6:37 AM

    Thanks Gryph for posting this story. It definitely should be shared far and wide and I've posted it on FB using your link at the end of the story.

    @2:35 - great comment! I'll add this info to my FB post also as it is definitely connected. Water will be a huge issue pretty dang soon!

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  6. Anonymous7:03 AM

    Induced earthquakes are the least of the concerns. Worry about aquifer contamination and global warming.

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  7. Anonymous8:20 AM

    These are not only the actions of the criminally insane, but the actions of criminally greedy. They do NOT care HOW they make their money, as long as they GET THEIR MONEY!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9:05 AM

    You can be assured the state of Oklahoma is aware of what is happening. They are encouraging homeowners to buy earthquake insurance. Good god.

    Look for a major disaster in OKC if a big one happens. Then you can watch the stupid governor with her hand out for federal money. She is a craftier version of $cara Payme. Maybe more dangerous since she didn't Quit.

    ReplyDelete

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