Powerful Oklahoma quake was caused by oil-drilling procedure, man-made scientists say!

Powerful Oklahoma quake was caused by oil-drilling procedure, scientists say
Associated Press
Posted: 03/26/2013 02:09:18 PM PDT

WASHINGTON -- An unusual and widely felt 5.6-magnitude quake in Oklahoma in 2011 was probably caused when oil drilling waste was pushed deep underground, a team of university and federal scientists concluded.

That would make it the most powerful quake to be blamed on deep injections of wastewater, according to a study published Tuesday by the journal Geology. The waste was from traditional drilling, not from the hydraulic fracturing technique, or fracking.

Three outside scientists contacted by The Associated Press said the researchers made a strong case for a likely man-made cause.

"I think they made the case that it is possible; it's probably even more than possible," said Steve Horton, director of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. "They have a very reasonable conclusion."

www.mercurynews.com...

www.foxnews.com...

www.bloomberg.com...

Seems to me that all that fracking would weaken the crust in the madrid fault zone and possibly bring forth a large quake earlier. It may make it less severe though. Maybe that is why they are allowing all the fracking, maybe they mistakenly think it is going to help.

reply to post by MariaLida


Dear MariaLida,

The scientists did not say that drilling "caused" the quake. They said it was possible; but, even that is a big stretch. They have been drilling oil in Oklahoma for quite a while. The truth is that we are having earthquakes in places where we have not traditionally had them and we don't know why.

A man-made scientist said this!? Was it an experiment that made this scientist or was he made the old fashioned way? You have me excited now.

Originally posted by AQuestion
reply to post by MariaLida

 

Dear MariaLida,

The scientists did not say that drilling "caused" the quake. They said it was possible; but, even that is a big stretch. They have been drilling oil in Oklahoma for quite a while. The truth is that we are having earthquakes in places where we have not traditionally had them and we don't know why.

How about actually clicking the links?

What you dont realize is while ytou are claiming what the scientist say and dont say and whine about the title of the thread- the actual titles of the article are saying the same thing

Bloomberg Title, "Quake Tied to Oil-Drilling Waste Adds Pressure for Rules

Fox title: Large 5.6- magnitude 2011 Oklahoma earthquake was likely man made scientist say

Mercury News: Powerful Oklahoma Quake was caused by oil drilling procedure scientist say

reply to post by MrWendal


Dear MrWendal,

Here is the quote, ignore the editor written title.

Three outside scientists contacted by The Associated Press said the researchers made a strong case for a likely man-made cause. "I think they made the case that it is possible; it's probably even more than possible," said Steve Horton, director of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. "They have a very reasonable conclusion."

Possible is the word used in the quoted sentence. Here is the question for real scientists, if they can cause earthquakes by drilling, the replicate it and they have not and cannot.

It makes sense to me that drilling for resources are the underlying causes of these 'freak' earthquakes and sink holes.

If I decide to dig for crap under your house, building, or dog house, eventually the foundation supporting such objects will weaken and cause such things to happen. I don't think it could be any more obvious. Those resources they're extracting help support the top-soil layer's foundational strength; removing them could only lead to these events purporting the Earth.

What I am wondering is who do we sue for willful negligence, pain, suffering, and damages? Exxon? British Petroleum? The environmental protection agency?

In other words, we gave mother earth an enema and she had a massive rumble in her tummy from it.

Let's hope that stuff stays underground.

Originally posted by rickymouse
Seems to me that all that fracking would weaken the crust in the madrid fault zone and possibly bring forth a large quake earlier. It may make it less severe though. Maybe that is why they are allowing all the fracking, maybe they mistakenly think it is going to help.

Your not thinking like"they" do. Most likely they are thinking "wow, we are making a lot of money from this fracking thing!"

Now, Abstruse is thinking like them

Originally posted by Abstruse

What I am wondering is who do we sue for willful negligence, pain, suffering, and damages? Exxon? British Petroleum? The environmental protection agency?

And for the mockers,

Three outside scientists contacted by The Associated Press said the researchers made a strong case for a likely man-made cause. "I think they made the case that it is possible; it's probably even more than possible," said Steve Horton, director of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. "They have a very reasonable conclusion."

emphasis mine

Originally posted by Abstruse
It makes sense to me that drilling for resources are the underlying causes of these 'freak' earthquakes and sink holes.

If I decide to dig for crap under your house, building, or dog house, eventually the foundation supporting such objects will weaken and cause such things to happen. I don't think it could be any more obvious. Those resources they're extracting help support the top-soil layer's foundational strength; removing them could only lead to these events purporting the Earth.

What I am wondering is who do we sue for willful negligence, pain, suffering, and damages? Exxon? British Petroleum? The environmental protection agency?

The areas they remove the product from are filled back in by back filling using waste water or other substances, so I doubt that is the cause. The pumping of waste material into the drilled area is usually critical to the extraction process. Pumping waste water into the drilled area is what causes the fracturing (i.e. the term fracking), which in turn releases the gasses from their earth bound home.

My biggest concern isn't about the "earthquakes" but more about the substances they are pumping into the ground to cause the fracturing in the first place.

It is like taking something stable(gases) out of a structure(earth) and replacing it with a solvent(water). Of course it's going to cause instability, that's not even a question.

The question, is if it's worth it or not...

We need the gas (or so we tell ourselves) and they need the money (or so they tell themselves).

I guess if the collateral damage isn't human lives, then I can't see a fault. (pun intended)

reply to post by RobertF


I didn't think of this and you're probably right that it's the 'procedure' to do things this way. Although from a business perspective, where more profit is all that matters, I'd think this procedure wouldn't probably be followed through in 100% of the cases. How many business out there undercut safety for profit margins? That's a lot of companies that engage in those behaviors. Even governments are sometimes complacent in these situations. My point is basically, you may be right, but how many times have you heard about negligent business practices even when there is standards of procedure? I see it happening often in many different areas.

I'm still left wondering who to hold responsible. All those buildings/homes destroyed by these occurrences is costing someone out there money. I doubt state farm is even there for people insured by state farm because who is purchasing fracking insurance? If that's even available.

reply to post by Cinrad


Dear Cinrad,

Let us follow the scientific method before coming to conclusions. In order to prove a theory you must be able to replicate it. Let us see them do it, if they have not then it is just a possibility and not scientifically valid as proof of anything.

How does the injection of wastewater at depth cause earthquakes?

Earth's crust is pervasively fractured at depth by faults. These faults can sustain high stresses without slipping because natural "tectonic" stress and the weight of the overlying rock pushes the opposing fault blocks together, increasing the frictional resistance to fault slip. The injected wastewater counteracts the frictional forces on faults and, in effect, "pries them apart", thereby facilitating earthquake slip.

That's the USGS.

Induced seismicity. Final report

Earthquakes are known to be associated with oil, gas, and geothermal energy production. The intent is to develop physical models that predict when seismicity is likely to occur, and to determine to what extent these earthquakes can be used to infer conditions within energy reservoirs. Early work focused on earthquakes induced by oil and gas extraction.

Research Org:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Geophysics


Sponsoring Org:
USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States)

Heard of either of these organizations?

Not only have they (the energy industry and the regulators) known about induced seismicity, but it is used purposely to get more detailed information about conditions underground in areas in which they believe more oil/gas to be.

Injection of fluid wastes into the fractured Precambrian crystalline bedrock beneath the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver triggered earthquakes in the 1960's

From the abstract of a research paper behind a paywall.

Go do a little more research into the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Earthquakes for information on the army having known about induced seismicity for over 50 years.

You can also attend a symposium on Triggered and Induced Seismicity to learn all of the latest on this field of study.

The goal of TAIS WG is to summarize a present state of knowledge about the induced and triggered seismicity processes and to discuss future trends in the field. Its purpose is also to provide an overview of the capabilities and limitations of current monitoring techniques and interpretation methods as applied to triggered earthquakes to assess and mitigate the seismic hazard.

Yes, earthquakes are caused by various manmade activities surrounding energy production.

No, they have no idea how to predict how severe any such induced seismicity will be.

That's not going to stop them from doing it anyway.

Everywhere that Fracking has been going on for the past 10 years here in Texas has started to experience minor earthquakes, in places where quakes have never been recorded in history.
Cleburne Texas is one such place.

I am surprised about the amount of comments about fracking......This article has absolutely nothing to do with fracking!! This is traditional oil drilling.....

I know most of you don't like big oil, fracking for natural gas, etc.....But what if that entire operation shut down for 1 year? Would you like walking or riding a peddle bike 30-40 miles each way to work in the morning? How about getting the baby to day care?

You have a fireplace in your house? I hope so, or you won't be heating your home......The list can go on and on.....You have to understand this stuff happens to preserve our way of living, and until there is another method for all of this THESE ways that getting this stuff from the ground is the best way available currently.....

We in PA fully support fracking and oil drilling......THis is what is keeping our communities employed, and money coming in for work from the state......So I guess I sit on the other side of the fence from most of you.....

Originally posted by MrWendal

Originally posted by AQuestion
reply to post by MariaLida

 

Dear MariaLida,

The scientists did not say that drilling "caused" the quake. They said it was possible; but, even that is a big stretch. They have been drilling oil in Oklahoma for quite a while. The truth is that we are having earthquakes in places where we have not traditionally had them and we don't know why.

How about actually clicking the links?

What you dont realize is while ytou are claiming what the scientist say and dont say and whine about the title of the thread- the actual titles of the article are saying the same thing

Bloomberg Title, "Quake Tied to Oil-Drilling Waste Adds Pressure for Rules

Fox title: Large 5.6- magnitude 2011 Oklahoma earthquake was likely man made scientist say

Mercury News: Powerful Oklahoma Quake was caused by oil drilling procedure scientist say

Like typical "journalists" they take an opinion and extrapolate to a definate act. How does any intelligent person take "possibly could be" and come up with a headline "OMG it caused!"

Wastewater Injection Spurred Biggest Earthquake Yet, Says Study
2013-03-26
The Earth Institute - Columbia University

A new study in the journal Geology is the latest to tie a string of unusual earthquakes, in this case, in central Oklahoma, to the injection of wastewater deep underground. Researchers now say that the magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Okla., on Nov. 6, 2011, may also be the largest ever linked to wastewater injection.

Scientists have linked a rising number of quakes in normally calm parts of Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Colorado to below-ground injection. In the last four years, the number of quakes in the middle of the United States jumped 11-fold from the three decades prior, the authors of the Geology study estimate. Last year, a group at the U.S. Geological Survey also attributed a remarkable rise in small- to mid-size quakes in the region to humans. The risk is serious enough that the National Academy of Sciences, in a report last year called for further research to “understand, limit and respond” to induced seismic events. Despite these studies, wastewater injection continues near the Oklahoma earthquakes.

In many of the wastewater injection cases documented so far, earthquakes followed within days or months of fluid injection starting. In contrast, the Oklahoma swarm happened years after injection began, similar to swarms at the Cogdell oil field in West Texas and the Fort St. John area of British Columbia.

www.earth.columbia.edu...

Oklahoma earthquake linked to oil extraction wastewater

Scientists have linked the underground injection of oil-drilling wastewater to a magnitude-5.7 earthquake in 2011 that struck the US state of Oklahoma.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Quake Swarm: Magnitude 4.3 earthquake hits Oklahoma City metro area, minutes after 3.0

www.abovetopsecret.com...

MAP 3.2 2013/04/17 01:14:05 35.640 -97.147 7.4 OKLAHOMA
MAP 3.6 2013/04/16 21:51:20 35.808 -97.162 4.9 OKLAHOMA
MAP 3.0 2013/04/16 21:03:05 35.566 -96.731 5.0 OKLAHOMA
MAP 3.5 2013/04/16 17:07:19 35.690 -97.095 8.9 OKLAHOMA
MAP 3.0 2013/04/16 16:44:06 35.619 -97.091 5.0 OKLAHOMA
MAP 4.2 2013/04/16 10:16:53 35.687 -97.109 5.0 OKLAHOMA
MAP 4.3 2013/04/16 06:56:30 35.685 -97.066 5.0 OKLAHOMA
MAP 3.0 2013/04/16 06:45:28 35.677 -96.940 4.9 OKLAHOMA

earthquake.usgs.gov...