whoooa. Just felt the 4.0 in Ohio

Originally posted by Dachende
we're making threads about 4.0 earthquakes now ?

If this were in California/Sumatra/Japan or New Zealand, than no, there would not be a thread on it. BUT this in OHIO....hence the thread. I think it is very appropriate. There have been odd quakes all over the states this past year and especially more recent in the Eastern parts.

reply to post by Dachende


Probably because we don't see many on this side of the U.S....I would also think anything above a 4 magnitude would peak interest, again on this side of the U.S.... I wonder if this will be 'downgraded'?

Originally posted by Druid42
reply to post by westcoast

 

Hey, WC, thanks for visiting. Can you get Puterman to review this info?

What's your opinion?

You bet! I am sure Puterman will be along before the end of the day. He'll probably tell you that he doesn't have much of an opinion though, for the fact that this area just isn't seismically active so no one has really looked at it before. (my guess, anyways! )

I took a look at the historical info from the USGS, which can be found HERE

I can at least say that I was right. Not only is it the largest this year....but by far the largest in the past twelve years. It appears there was only one other micro quake anywhere near it in the past year.

I will try and do some more background diggin on it.


ETA: For those in that area, be expecting some after-shocks from this (assuming it isn't a fore-shock to something bigger). It isn't a rule, but with this size there are usually several.

I don't think it had anything to do with fracking ,the epicenter is smack dab in the middle of some suburb in someone's backyard,right next to Florida street.

Here is the historical map of the area.




neic.usgs.gov...

reply to post by westcoast


Thanks a million. This thing was right below us. I'd like to get some sound advice on this, and I respect your opinion. You're one of the EQ pros on ATS, aye?

Largest in 12 years? Yikes.

At least, given our relatively low level of seismic activity, it SHOULD be the last one of this year!

Oops!
A stand to be corrected,thanks to megabogie from the quake thread here...www.abovetopsecret.com...&addstar=1&on=13121442#pid13121442

There has been fracking in the area and they shut it down yesterday.

Friday, December 30, 2011
Earthquakes force Ohio to shut down a fracking disposal well

Another earthquake in the Youngstown area has caused the state to shut down a well that’s been taking in millions of gallons of fluid left over from the drilling process called “fracking.”

www.wksu.org...

WoW.

Speaking of the New Madrid area....

I went ahead and took a gander at the USGS site, just to see what I had been missing out on....

I didn't know about the Southeastern MO quake 2 days ago

2.8 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI36.55°N -89.64°W 7Km Deep 2011-12-29 15:06:31 UTC2011-12-29 09:06:31 LOCAL

I'm in southwest Michigan, did not feel a thing, go figure.

reply to post by kdog1982


Cool...thanks for that link.

Like I said before, I fully believe that Fracking can cause quakes. This large of a quake though....while the fracking may have 'primed' it, there has to be a fault invovlved to produce it. (IMO)

I think the big question now is this: IF this were 'set-up' from the fracking, is this the begining or the end?

Taken from your above linked article:

The area has experienced a series of small earthquakes since the well started operating about nine months ago. The most recent, on Christmas Eve, was two miles down and within a mile of the injection site

Note the depth. Unfortunately, the article only mentions that it has caused a rash of micro quakes, but says nothing as to the geology or history of the area.

reply to post by westcoast


Maybe yesterday they decided to dump all their fluid to get rid of it before they were shutdown.
Or someone sneaked in today to finish off?

A little more background info on the OHIO SEISMIC ZONE:

The Northeast Ohio seismic zone has had moderately frequent earthquakes at least since the first one was reported in 1823. The largest earthquake (magnitude 4.8) caused damage in 1986 in northeasternmost Ohio, and the most recent damaging shock (magnitude 4.5) occurred in 1998 at the seismic zone's eastern edge in northwestern Pennsylvania. Earthquakes too small to cause damage are felt two or three times per decade

The Northeast Ohio seismic zone is far from the nearest plate boundaries, which are in the center of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea. The seismic zone is laced with known faults but numerous smaller or deeply buried faults remain undetected. Even the known faults are poorly located at earthquake depths. Accordingly, few, if any, earthquakes in the seismic zone can be linked to named faults. It is difficult to determine if a known fault is still active and could slip and cause an earthquake. As in most other areas east of the Rockies, the best guide to earthquake hazards in the Northeast Ohio seismic zone is the earthquakes themselves.

source


So it looks like this is the third largest quake in the historical data (about 90 years). I would say that makes it very significant.


ETA: After thinking about this a bit, you know what? I believe that there are a whole lot areas "laced with unknown faults" that are becoming active due to the deep well injections associated with fracking. We have absolutely NO IDEA what the consequences of this action is. A 4.0 quake is nothing to turn your nose up at. That is a lot of energy....and indicates (as the above article suggests) that there is a decent sized fault about 2.2km down that is active. Would it have happened without the fracking? There have been two other quakes in the same range over the past 90 years. That's it. What beast could be awakened either here or elsewhere by the deep well injections????????

reply to post by chrismicha77

Is there evidence online one could go to, either to prove or disprove the fracking angle? Also, perhaps I was hallucinating again, but wasn't there just another mine collapse or something similar in the area, just in the past week or two?

reply to post by Dachende

When that 4.0 comes in Ohio? Why, yes.... We are. Ohio is about as much Earthquake county as Oklahoma or Illinois or Virginia. So indeed, it's a notable event where it'd barely pass for a topic of conversation in many regions in the world.

reply to post by missingrandkids


Ask,and you shall receive.

Oklahoma has been dealing with this alot,here is something from the Oklahoma Geological Survey relating quakes to fracking.

Examination)of)Possibly Induced Seismicity from Hydraulic Fracturing in the Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma

www.ogs.ou.edu...

Another nice site for this also.

Earthquakes are caused by hydraulic fracturing

www.texassharon.com...

reply to post by Violater1
When was the last time Ohio had an earthquake?I grew up in southeastern Michigan, the years I spent there not once did we have an earthquake...this blows my mind

reply to post by missingrandkids


USGS says:

A: Seismologists have observed that for every magnitude 6 earthquake there are 10 of magnitude 5,100 of magnitude 4,1,000 of magnitude 3, and so forth as the events get smaller and smaller. This sounds likea lot of small earthquakes,but there are never enough small ones to eliminate the occasional large event.It would take 32 magnitude 5's,1000 magnitude 4's,32,000 magnitude 3's to equal the energy of one magnitude 6 event. So, even though we always record many more small events than large ones, there are never enough to eliminate the need for the occasional large earthquake.

As for "lubricating" faults with water or some other substance, injecting high pressure fluids deep into the ground is known to be able to trigger earthquakes to occur sooner than would have been the case without the injection. However this would bea dangerous pursuit in any populated area,as one might triggera damaging earthquake.

emphasis mine

What's more:

There is definitely historical precedence for manmade causes of earthquakes in Colorado.

"This state is the biggest natural laboratory in the world for human-induced earthquakes," Matthews said. "There have been three major experiments in the state concerning human-induced events that prove human activities can indeed touch off earthquakes."

The most famous episode of a human-induced earthquake began in 1961, when a 12,000-foot disposal well was drilled in the U.S. Army's Rocky Mountain Arsenal northeast of Denver. The well was used for disposing of waste fluids from arsenal operations, and injection commenced in March 1962.

Shortly thereafter an unusual series of earthquakes erupted in the area, and by the end of December 1962 about 190 earthquakes had occurred. None caused damage until December, when several structures were damaged in Dupont and Irondale.

Over 1,300 earthquakes were recorded between January 1963 and August 1967. In April 1967 the largest earthquake since the series began in 1962 occurred, and damage was recorded in the arsenal, Derby and Boulder. This tremor measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.

Even after the Rocky Mountain Arsenal waste dumping practice stopped, earthquakes continued to be felt in the Denver area, so in 1968 the Army began removing fluid from the arsenal well very slowly in an effort to reduce the earthquake activity.

Source for above quote

So, yes there is plenty of proof that fracking can cause earthquakes..

In this specific case, that is still unclear but you have to take it in to consideration.

Didn't feel it in Detroit.

Second Line

I'm by Cleveland, didn't feel a thing

I know how it feels. It's quite scary if it's your first time.

ATS member JustMike sent me this link and I thought I would share it with you all!

4.0 earthquake strikes in northeast Ohio

McDONALD, Ohio (AP) — Officials said Saturday they believe the latest earthquake activity in northeast Ohio is related to the injection of wastewater into the ground near a fault line, creating enough pressure to cause seismic activity.

Good article...check it out!