It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
(visit the link for the full news article)
Three small earthquakes rattled central Oklahoma early today.
The quakes ranged from 2.7 to 4.7 in magnitude, with the first temblor hitting the region at 2:12 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
While there were no injuries or major damage, residents reported feeling the shaking.
Fracking May Have Caused 50 Earthquakes in Oklahoma
by Care2 Causes Editors
November 4, 2011
7:00 am
Written by Brian Merchant, Treehugger
In a surprising turn of events, Cuadrilla Resources, a British energy company, recently admitted that its hydraulic fracturing operations “likely” caused an earthquake in England. Predictably, this news quickly sent a shockwave through the U.K., the oil and natural gas industries, and the environmental activist community. And it certainly feeds plenty of speculation that the same phenomenon could be occurring elsewhere.
Speculation that would be well-founded, evidently. Right on the heels of Cuadrilla’s announcement, news is spreading that the United States Geological Survey has released a report (pdf) that links a series of earthquakes in Oklahoma last January to a fracking operation underway there. Evidently, a resident reported feeling some minor earthquakes, spurring the USGS to investigate. They found that some 50 small earthquakes had indeed been registered, ranging in magnitude from 1.0 to 2.8. The bulk of these occurred within 2.1 miles of Eola Field, a fracking operation in southern Garvin County.
The U.S.G.S. determined that “from the character of the seismic recordings indicate that they are both shallow and unique.”
From the report:
Our analysis showed that shortly after hydraulic fracturing began small earthquakes started occurring, and more than 50 were identified, of which 43 were large enough to be located. Most of these earthquakes occurred within a 24 hour period after hydraulic fracturing operations had ceased. There have been previous cases where seismologists have suggested a link between hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes, but data was limited, so drawing a definitive conclusion was not possible for these cases.
Read more: www.care2.com...
(It's scary what we're coming to accept as normal, isn't it??)
Oklahoma Earthquakes - Frequently Asked Questions
Report Feeling an Oklahoma Earthquake
Oklahoma Geological Survey Main Website
Preliminary Earthquake Report, November 5, 2011
Contacts: Austin Holland or Amie Gibson, Oklahoma Geological Survey, (Email Us)
On November 5, 2011 at 2:12 AM CDT (07:12:45.4 UTC) an earthquake occurred in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. The earthquake was located at 35.548 N latitude and 96.763 W longitude with an error of about 2.0 km horizontally, at a depth of 3.1 km. The earthquake occurred about 6 miles northwest of Prague and 5.2 miles southeast of Sparks. The OGS determined a ML magnitude of 4.8 and the USGS currently has it at a magnitude 4.7 (Mb) these two numbers are essentially the same given the errors in calculating magnitude. Both the USGS and the OGS have determined a magnitude 5.2 mbLg for this event. This earthquake occurred very close to where a magnitude 4.3 earthquake occurred on February 27, 2010. From the location of the earthquake and the focal mechanism it is most likely that this earthquake occurred on the Wilzetta fault also known as the Seminole uplift. As of 3:30 AM CDT on 11/5/11 the OGS has received a few hundred reports. As of 7:00 AM CDT there have been more than 30 aftershocks associated with this earthquake.
USGS Event Page