Living With Quakes: Swaying Away Here in Oklahoma

I've been spending time (on and off) in Oklahoma for the past 18 months for a work project. I've gotten used to the constant earthquakes over time, although being from the East Coast, it was a little weird at first.

Mostly, it was just a little shake and the lampshade would sway and I'd feel a very slight rumble and a semi-violent movement. Some have been stronger than others, but I haven't been all that worried, really, because they feel sort of small and insignificant, although frequent.

Until Thursday, very early, when I was jarred awake by a 4.7. It actually woke me up from a sound sleep because the swaying was pronounced, the sound a whole lot louder and the whole "weird feeling" was over the top. I stayed up for a few minutes, noted that it was a strong one, and fell back asleep.

A lot of people say the quakes are caused by fracking, but the USGS says quakes are more likely caused by the waste water injection process of fracking. I have relatives in the fracking industry and I'm also all about finding alternative energy sources. Fracking has been a boon to places like Ohio and Pennsylvania---states that really needed a boost.

The earthquakes in Oklahoma are constant. Take a look at this page-----to the right there is a list (in blue) of earthquakes going on here, seemingly every few minutes--although most are so low on the scale, we don't feel them.

Link: www.tulsaworld.com... 710053b7a.html

They are adjusting wells and closing wells in response to all the recent quakes: We've had 17 quakes above 2.6 since Thursday!


What do you all think about fracking? And could it create the big one here? Can human-induced earthquakes do some major damage?

a reply to: MRuss

there is probably a lot more going on geologically in oklahoma than is widely known. first we do have some major and minor fault lines here and there may be some we do not know about deep deep deep down. millions of years ago the continental divide was not the rockies but a side branch of the appalacians which actually crossed the continent east to west before the rockies were born. something made those mountains that may still be lurking deep down even though the mountain range has eroded away. there is an extinct magmatic intrusion in the southern central region. there is the western edge of a super caldera which encompasses parts of louisiana, arkansas and south east oklahoma complete with kimberlite pipes. we have gold veinlets from the lost mountain range. (all that's left or minor hills we call mountains though a couple do barely qualify as official mountains due to meeting the minimum height for mountains.)

either the govt does not want us to know something is going on or they do not know something is going on here because nearly all the evidence is about 300 meters below surface level.

a reply to: stormbringer1701

Just the after affects from the system of tunnels built underground and across the spanse of our country to assist the elit and chosen people once the SHTF.

I've been in a 6.7 and a 7.1...all you can do is cover and pray.

a reply to: MRuss

I've lived here all my life, and it just seems to be getting worse. I never had felt an earthquake in my life until the last six years... we had a couple tiny things back in 2009 and 2010. Then came the 5.6 magnitude quake, and it's been building up in frequency ever since.

The 4.7 magnitude is supposedly the strongest since 2011. I wouldn't be surprised if we beat that 5.6 quake at this rate.

One week, we had a swarm near us - tiny jolts that would happen sometimes multiple times an hour. I think we counted over 140 in the span of a week. It's moved off since then, thankfully, but...

I fear it isn't wastewater injection. That, at least, we could stop. I am more worried that it's older faults.

Once long ago, ice towered across North America; the sheer mass of it caused parts of the continental plate itself to sink. Fortunately, plates are somewhat elastic... and it's been rebounding in some areas ever since.

I wonder at times what the rearrangement of vast quantities of mass might do to old faults - consider the melting of Greenland. What effects might that mass have on the continents when it's moved?

a reply to: Greven

Seems to me that you should be able to locate the epicenter of a quake courtesy USGS, drive there, and spot a powerful pump injecting water and other things underground. or recently. has anyone tried this empirical approach, and reported it???????

originally posted by: Greven
a reply to: MRuss

I've lived here all my life, and it just seems to be getting worse. I never had felt an earthquake in my life until the last six years... we had a couple tiny things back in 2009 and 2010. Then came the 5.6 magnitude quake, and it's been building up in frequency ever since.

The 4.7 magnitude is supposedly the strongest since 2011. I wouldn't be surprised if we beat that 5.6 quake at this rate.

One week, we had a swarm near us - tiny jolts that would happen sometimes multiple times an hour. I think we counted over 140 in the span of a week. It's moved off since then, thankfully, but...

I fear it isn't wastewater injection. That, at least, we could stop. I am more worried that it's older faults.

Once long ago, ice towered across North America; the sheer mass of it caused parts of the continental plate itself to sink. Fortunately, plates are somewhat elastic... and it's been rebounding in some areas ever since.

I wonder at times what the rearrangement of vast quantities of mass might do to old faults - consider the melting of Greenland. What effects might that mass have on the continents when it's moved?

I think you have some great points here Green, and most likely all the drilling and wastewater injection combined, is what triggered this activity. I believe you're right...there's more at play here than just the fracking.

originally posted by: darkstar57
Seems to me that you should be able to locate the epicenter of a quake courtesy USGS, drive there, and spot a powerful pump injecting water and other things underground. or recently. has anyone tried this empirical approach, and reported it???????

Sure. In 2014, we had quakes with an epicenter less than a mile away from where I live.

We even had a magnitude 4.2 only two miles away. That caused damage at the house.

There are no injection wells within several miles, yet quakes occurred here.