Series of small earthquakes rock Oklahoma in record seismic activity

Higher than "normal" earthquake activity is hitting Oklahoma.

Some are saying a higher than "normal" amount of fracking is causing the recent onslaught of tremors.

The story says 106 3.0's or higher have hit this year already compared to 109 all last year.

278 3.0's or higher have shaken the area from 2008 - 2013, but 1975 - 2008 only averaged less than 6 per year !!!

Hmmm.

(Reuters) - Earthquakes rattled residents in Oklahoma on Saturday, the latest in a series that have put the state on track for record quake activity this year, which some seismologists say may be tied to oil and gas exploration.

One earthquake recorded at 3.8 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey rocked houses in several communities around central Oklahoma at 7:42 a.m. local time. Another about two hours earlier in the same part of the state, north of Oklahoma City, was recorded at 2.9 magnitude, USGS said.

Series of small earthquakes rock Oklahoma in record seismic activity


What the frack is going on ??

I've been checking the usgs lately, and it seems that there have been more earthquakes in OK than here in California.

These fracking idiots won't be happy until they've fracked up everything. Stupid frackers!

Frack no!

Could this have anything to do with Yellastone??

reply to post by xuenchen


When corporations start shaking the planet, you know that they have gotten a little to big for their own britches.

I fear that mother nature may have to much to contend with between the fracking and geo-engineering.

Fracking map
earthjustice.org...

A rash of fraq-uakes. If it quacks like a duck…

From, what I have been able to gather the earthquakes are some 2.5 kilometer down. Does fracking go that deep?

Plus the Area is in a seismic zone, The New Madrid Fault system is not that far away.

Plus that whole region is directly on top of the North American Craton.

en.wikipedia.org...

There may be greater forces at work here than fracking. Earth has been pretty stable for the last several million years. Perhaps the planet is waking up?

JBRiddle
From, what I have been able to gather the earthquakes are some 2.5 kilometer down. Does fracking go that deep?

Plus the Area is in a seismic zone, The New Madrid Fault system is not that far away.

Plus that whole region is directly on top of the North American Craton.

en.wikipedia.org...

There may be greater forces at work here than fracking. Earth has been pretty stable for the last several million years. Perhaps the planet is waking up?

some fracking operations can go as deep as 13,000 ft which is 3.962 kilometres

These tremors have been going on for a few months now, here is a link to an earlier thread from February.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Is Oklahoma the only place where they frack? Are those other places also experiencing sudden, unexplained tremors?

I'm not saying it is; I'm not saying it isn't, but we frack all over, so why is Oklahoma special?

reply to post by xuenchen


They keep telling us that mucking with our planet's shock absorber systems won't have any effects. Bull.


F&S

Fracking...
that is my bet for that area

WTH bigger quakes than California?

M4.0 - 3km S of Langston, Oklahoma
2014-04-06 14:58:54 UTC
Event Time
2014-04-06 14:58:54 UTC
2014-04-06 09:58:54 UTC-05:00 at epicenter
2014-04-06 10:58:54 UTC-04:00 system time
Location
35.917°N 97.260°W depth=5.8km (3.6mi)

Nearby Cities
3km (2mi) S of Langston, Oklahoma
15km (9mi) ENE of Guthrie, Oklahoma
28km (17mi) SW of Stillwater, Oklahoma
35km (22mi) NE of Edmond, Oklahoma
54km (34mi) NNE of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I really don't think that "fracking" is the key for the quakes in our area. Most of the drilling and fracking are currently happening in the Woodford Shale, which is south and southeast of the Oklahoma City area. The Woodford Shale is approximately between 6,000 and 11,000 feet deep. However, there is a poorly understood midplate fault line that more closely aligns with the quakes. That is the Nemaha fault. The Nemaha fault runs right through the east side of the city and is coincident with the location of the stronger quakes here.

The question is, what is happening under the plate that is causing the quakes?

LetsGoViking

The question is, what is happening under the plate that is causing the quakes?

Aah, ha...and that there is the million dollar question. If it's not fracking, then what is it? That's a far more frightening contemplation when you think about it. Fracking, we can stop and control. fracturing of the crust, rifting of these plates, that on the other hand is not something we can control.

I only suggest fracking because it's a more positive outlook. It will be proven eventually and governments will act to stop it. If it's something else entirely, likely natural forces or the hand of God, well, then there isn't a damn thing governments can do about it.

The only reason I say this is because the rapid escalation of these quakes in Oklahoma is far from normal and they indicate something is out of balance. There are other upticks to, including California and Yellowstone and even some out-of-place quakes in Ohio. These are just the upticks here in America, but it's happening elsewhere, including the Peru-Chile region. And in this thread, we are only talking about earthquakes, but what about the increase in volcanoes...the average year observes 60 volcano eruptions, while there are already 30 this year and we are only 1/4 of the way through and this follows the record-setting 2013 which saw 83 eruptions.

Other indicators of the crust below us fracturing, fissuring, rifting, displacing, tearing, etc...

Sinkholes, landslides, land cracks and also the loud house-rattling sonic booms that remain a mystery, which many precede earthquakes. The booms could be the result of micro-quakes, many not registering on the seismographs of the USGS...or, they are and they are not telling us about it.

Most baffling is how all these things are happening and yet it seems to be ignored...nobody is talking about it, or putting the events into the same context and having a serious discussion about it. The events are occurring, but are they related? I don't know for sure, but I sure would like to know. My guess is that they are related and someone somewhere knows it.

reply to post by Rezlooper


Since the earth's crust is ~ 25 miles thick, I think we can rule out fracking as the cause. While I think that fracking may be responsible for several shallow, low magnitude quakes, I tend to think the ones in Central Oklahoma are more tectonic in nature. And that is a frightening thought. Oklahoma City sits in the middle of the Continental plate far from either edge. My best guest, and I am not a geologist, is that stress from the subduction plate boundary along the West Coast may be transferred to the interior of the plate. Given that the eastern edge is pushing forward, and the western edge is not subducting at the same rate, the center of the plate may buckle. Over geologic time, this may give rise to the famous Oklahoma Mountains.

But in human time scales, in an area where if you asked about earthquake insurance two years ago they looked at you like you were crazy, the interim effects could be catastrophic.

Glad I like my drinks shaken, not stirred.

Had a 4.2 here in OKC this morning ...depth 16, 732.3 feet. A little deep to be fracking.

Time
2014-04-06 09:58:54 UTC-05:00
Location
35.890°N 97.269°W
Depth
5.1km

Source: other than my rear, USGS