Did the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Cause a 3.9 Colorado Quake?

A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project at Utah's Paradox Valley Area that pumps brine deep into the earth is being blamed for causing a 3.9 earthquake that hit the area last month. Apparently the brine acts a lubricant making the ground shift easier. Usually they are not felt and the last big one was May of 2000 and registered 4.3. That quake prompted them to reduce the amount of brine pumped daily.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - A federal facility that pumps salty water 14,000 feet into the Earth's crust probably is associated with a magnitude 3.9 earthquake that struck the Utah-Colorado border this month, an official said.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation facility removes salt from the Dolores River, then pumps 230 gallons of brine per minute into deep wells in Utah's Paradox Valley Area.

The process is intended to decrease the salt content of the Colorado River downstream, but scientists say it also lubricates faults.

The facility has caused thousands of earthquakes in the area since 1991, but most have been too small for people to feel. The 3.9 quake, which struck Nov. 6, was felt in Grand Junction, some 60 miles away. No damage was reported.

Quake?

Originally posted by FredT
A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project at Utah's Paradox Valley Area that pumps brine deep into the earth is being blamed for causing a 3.9 earthquake that hit the area last month. Apparently the brine acts a lubricant making the ground shift easier. Usually they are not felt and the last big one was May of 2000 and registered 4.3. That quake prompted them to reduce the amount of brine pumped daily.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - A federal facility that pumps salty water 14,000 feet into the Earth's crust probably is associated with a magnitude 3.9 earthquake that struck the Utah-Colorado border this month, an official said.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation facility removes salt from the Dolores River, then pumps 230 gallons of brine per minute into deep wells in Utah's Paradox Valley Area.

The process is intended to decrease the salt content of the Colorado River downstream, but scientists say it also lubricates faults.

The facility has caused thousands of earthquakes in the area since 1991, but most have been too small for people to feel. The 3.9 quake, which struck Nov. 6, was felt in Grand Junction, some 60 miles away. No damage was reported.

Quake?

Good theory Fred! However, I see one problem. It's not the movement itself that causes earth quakes, it's the scraping of the techtonic plates that generates the earth quake. As the plates scrape against each other they vibrate. It is this vibration traveling through the ground that causes the shock waves that you feel as an earthquake. It might make ground movement easier, but it should also cut down on the scraping, and decrease the magnitude of earthquakes.

Tim
ATS Director of Counter-Ignorance

Very possible...when they damned up the colorado river there were 1000s of small tremors and earthquakes caused by the water buildup.

I saw a story on one of the newmagazines (60 minutes or Primetime) where there was this town where they had a powerplant (or some such thing) that pumped water into the ground in order to increase steam and there was a increase of earthquakes because of it.

This theory is perfectly valid, and in basic terms it does lubricate the fault. This is why you often see earthquakes on faults loaded by water in e.g dams.