Five earthquakes hit central Oklahoma early Tuesday

[bushisanidiot]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

"Five earthquakes shook central Oklahoma early Tuesday, with the highest 4.3 magnitude quake hitting at 1:56 a.m., Central time.
The temblors began at around 1:45 a.m. near the city of Chandler, Okla., which is about 30 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, the US Geological Survey reports. An official answering the dispatch line for the Oklahoma County Sheriff's office told the Associated Press that they have received no reports of damage or injuries.

Jana Pursley, a USGS geophysicist, told the Associated Press that all the quakes were shallow, measuring about three miles deep, which is common for the area. She added that it is common for several earthquakes to occur during a short period of time.


The most recent quake occurred at 5:16 a.m. near Luther, Okla., at a magnitude of 4.2. The quakes were felt in Oklahoma City, where the Oklahoma Zoo tweeted, “that was certainly wild.”

“At this point, it looks like a main shock, aftershock sequence. There are even a bunch of smaller ones,” Austin Holland, a geophysicist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey in Norman, told the Oklahoman in Oklahoma City. He is collecting data from Tuesday’s quakes to see if there were more than five."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/five-earthquakes-hit-central-oklahoma-early-tuesday-145926550.html

[snooper2]

1. It will be OK

[PDJane]

2. sure it will.......fracking yes.

[Berlum]

3. Freaking Frackers

[riqster]

4. Good place for a pipeline.

Yes,

[rocktivity]

5. Is central OK fracking country?

And if it's so common, when is the last time it happened?


rocktivity

[RufusTFirefly]

6. Garvin County, OK, is apparently the site of some fracking

From what I discern, it's less than 60 miles from Oklahoma City.

A 2011 United States Geological Survey (USGS) report, Examination of Possibly Induced Seismicity from Hydraulic Fracturing in the Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma (note: PDF), links a series of earthquakes in Oklahoma in January 2011 to a fracking operation underway there. The USGS found that, overall, some 50 small earthquakes had been registered in the region, ranging in magnitude from 1.0 to 2.8. The bulk occurred within 2.1 miles of Eola Field, a fracking operation in southern Garvin County. The USGS determined that "the character of the seismic recordings indicate that they are both shallow and unique.”

Source: SourceWatch

[DallasNE]

10. "Shallow" Is A Huge Clue

Making this a near certainty to be man made, either fracking or injection.

[RufusTFirefly]

12. Yes. There's a quarry up the road from me that creates tiny earthquakes

The USGS duly notes them on the earthquake map (they're almost always less than 2.0), and suggests their probable source. One of the elements that makes the source of these temblors easier to determine is their relatively shallow depth.

[Divernan]

7. Oklahoma earthquakes (1,400 in 2011) linked to injection wells

The fracking process includes having to dispose of millions of gallons of fracking wastewater by injecting it deep into the earth. For example, fracking wastewater from southwestern Pennsylvania fracking operations is transported over to Ohio to be disposed of there. The question re huge increase in the number of Oklahoma earthquakes was whether that could be linked to the massive injection of wastewater in the Oklahoma area. A scientific study of the record-breaking 2011 Oklahoma earthquake was just published last month and detailed the link between fracking injection wells and earthquakes. It concluded that injection wells used by the oil and gas industry were the cause of a new type of induced earthquake.

The report’s lead author, University of Oklahoma seismologist Katie Keranen, focused on a series of earthquakes in November 2011 near Prague, Okla., including a 5.7-magnitude temblor on Nov. 6, the largest recorded in state history. The quake destroyed 14 homes, buckled pavement and was felt in 17 states, according to the report. Prague lies near a fault line and oil fields where injection wells have been used for decades.
More than 1,400 earthquakes were recorded in Oklahoma in 2011, the most active year on record. At the same time, seismic activity also increased throughout the middle of the country, with quakes reported in Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio and Texas.

ttp://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-oklahoma-quakes-fracking-20130327,0,7788391.story

The same year, regulators in Arkansas banned injection wells from a region that stretches across the state that had been shaken by a series of quakes. Oil and gas regulators in Colorado require review by a state seismologist before permitting injection wells, and Illinois has installed a traffic light system to stop injection wells if related earthquakes appear to put public safety at risk.

Oklahoma’s largest-recorded earthquake was triggered by injection wells used by the oil and gas industry, according to a report released this week. The Tuesday report in the geoscience journal Geology is the latest scientific evidence suggesting injection wells may be causing an uptick in earthquakes nationwide. However, the report was viewed skeptically by Oklahoma's official seismologist.

The report suggests that injection-induced earthquakes could be larger than previously thought, and could take much longer periods of time to be triggered. “This is basically a different class of induced earthquake,” Keranen told NPR.

Keranen’s report, written with Columbia University’s Heather Savage and Geoffrey Abers, and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Elizabeth Cochran — is based on data collected from more than a dozen seismometers in Oklahoma during the so-called “Prague Earthquake Sequence” and data collected by the state’s oil and gas regulator, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

Researchers from Oklahoma and Columbia universities found that over time, depositing used-up drilling fluid into the ground may have snapped geological tension that had built up near rural Prague, Oklahoma, causing a 5.7 quake that destroyed 14 homes and injured two.

The authors also write that the number of large earthquakes in and around the center of the country has skyrocketed in recent years.

Here's exactly how they put it: Earthquakes with Mw ? 5.0 [larger than 5.0 on the Richter scale — ed.] are rare in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains; however, the number per year recorded in the midcontinent increased 11-fold between 2008 and 2011, compared to 1976–2007. Of the total seismic moment released in the region, ~66% occurred in 2011 (from the GCMT).

This echoes findings from a 2012 USGS study that found the frequency of earthquakes greater than or equal to Mw 3.0 had picked up six fold between 2001 and 2011 compared to the average for the 20th century.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fracking-wastewater-oklahoma-earthquake-2013-3#ixzz2Qe7hDnuv

[BlueToTheBone]

8. Fracking. n/t

[sikofit3]

11. Yup

NT

[BlueToTheBone]

13. Hey, welcome to DU!

you don't even have to read the story to know the cause of those kinds of earthquakes.

[sikofit3]

17. Thank you!

I am a loooong time lurker but recently decided to start participating.

[BlueToTheBone]

18. welcome to the fray! n/t

[OKNancy]

9. Could be fracking, but we have had small earthquakes for as long as I can remember

One in the late 1950's I remember well because the baby sitter thought my sisters and I were causing the dishes to fall off the upper cabinet.
Mom fired her. This was when I lived in central Oklahoma.

[Baclava]

14. interesting

Oklahoma Earthquake History

The series of great earthquakes in the New Madrid, Missouri, region in 1811 - 1812, and a strong earthquake centered in Arkansas (October 22, 1881) were probably felt in the area that is now Oklahoma.

The first earthquake known to have centered in the State occurred in September 1918. A series of shocks at El Reno produced only minor effects; the strongest was intensity V on September 10. Objects were thrown from shelves. Other shocks occurred on the next day.

On December 27, 1929, another tremor centered in the same area was felt in portions of central and western Oklahoma. Some plaster cracked and at least one chimney fell (intensity VI) at El Reno. In addition, clocks stopped, objects moved, and some reports indicated the walls and floors seemed to sway. In several cities, people rushed from their homes in alarm. The total felt area included about 20,000 square kilometers.

The magnitude 5.5 April 9, 1952, earthquake centered near El Reno affected most of Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas. Damage from the 10:30 a.m. CST earthquake was not extensive, but many people in the epicentral area were alarmed, some to near panic. Portions of chimneys fell in El Reno and Ponca City (intensity VII). Bricks loosened from a building wall and tile facing of commercial buildings bulged at Oklahoma City. Also, plate glass windows were shattered in the business district of El Reno. The total damage amounted to several thousand dollars.

Aftershocks were felt on April 11, 15, and 16, July 16, and August 14; an earthquake that was felt (IV) at Holdenville and Wewoka on October 7 apparently was unrelated to the April 9th event. Homes and buildings shook and some persons were awakened (V) at El Reno from the April 16th shock, which occurred 5 minutes after midnight. Felt reports were also received from Kingfisher, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Union City.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/oklahoma/history.php

[OKNancy]

15. Why did you leave out this one?

On February 16, 1956, a shock at Edmond broke windows and cracked plaster (VI). It was also felt strongly at Guthrie, Oklahoma City, and Pawnee. Southeastern Oklahoma was disturbed by an earthquake on April 2, 1956, that produced thundering, rattling, and bumping noises that were heard by many citizens. Buildings shook and objects fell at Antlers, and many persons were alarmed (V). Minor effects were reported from other nearby towns. On October 30, 1956, an area of about 9,500 square kilometers in northeastern Oklahoma was shaken. The maximum intensity of VII was reported west of Catoosa, where a slippage of the formation caused an oil well to be shut down. Minor damage occurred at Beggs and Tulsa; and isolated felt report was received from Electra, Texas.

[Baclava]

16. was that yours? I didn't want to be arrested by the 'too many paragraphs' police

I was living in Alaska when I was hit by the only I've ever experienced , a 5.5

it's a sickening feeling when the ground under your feet starts moving and is out to get you