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Cuadrilla forced to stop fracking as quake breaches threshold
More from Britain....
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/26/cuadrilla-forced-to-stop-fracking-as-quake-breaches-threshold
Cuadrilla has been forced to stop fracking after its operations at a well near Blackpool triggered an earthquake that breached the official threshold.
The company said it had paused work for 18 hours after the tremor on Friday morning. It was the 17th quake in the area since fracking began 11 days ago, but the first to be powerful enough to pass a regulatory threshold that requires fracking to stop.
The 0.8-magnitude quake centred 2km (1.2 miles) underground was too small for anyone to notice on the surface, but is ranked as a red event on the government’s traffic-light scheme of fracking regulation. A red event is anything above 0.5 magnitude and requires Cuadrilla to stop injecting water and monitor the well for further seismic activity.
Any delays will cost the company financially. It has admitted that delays due to a legal challenge earlier this month were costing it £94,000 a day as workers stood idle.
The company said it had paused work for 18 hours after the tremor on Friday morning. It was the 17th quake in the area since fracking began 11 days ago, but the first to be powerful enough to pass a regulatory threshold that requires fracking to stop.
The 0.8-magnitude quake centred 2km (1.2 miles) underground was too small for anyone to notice on the surface, but is ranked as a red event on the government’s traffic-light scheme of fracking regulation. A red event is anything above 0.5 magnitude and requires Cuadrilla to stop injecting water and monitor the well for further seismic activity.
Any delays will cost the company financially. It has admitted that delays due to a legal challenge earlier this month were costing it £94,000 a day as workers stood idle.
