Fracking wells in an Earthquake

[YankeyMCC]

I'm just wondering and have no expertise here.

But I heard that the quake today was felt as far north as Toronto.

5.8 is nothing to sneeze at but I wondered about how far it traveled and I thought of the Marcellus Shale that they are drilling for Natural gas using that fracking fracking method.

Of course all wells and mines are at risk from quakes but was it the Marcellus Shale that helped transmit the shock waves up north and what precautions are the gas drilling companies taking? Could they be at particular risk, are the cement linings still intact? How would they know?

[valerief]

1. I, too, was wondering if fracking "stimulates" earthquakes. nt

[WhiteTara]

3. Guy Arkansas was rattled with earthqualkes for over a year

and when the fracking ended, so did the earthquakes. Aren't they fracking in Virginia?

[valerief]

10. Interesting! nt

[OKIsItJustMe]

16. Smoking gun… er… seismograph

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/small-earthquake-in-blackpool-major-shock-for-uks-energy-policy-2291597.html

Small earthquake in Blackpool, major shock for UK's energy policy

Controversial shale gas drilling halted pending investigation into possible connection with tremors

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

…

Earthquake experts from the British Geological Survey said that the 1.5 magnitude quake last week was similar to a 2.3 earthquake in April in the same area and that both may be linked to the experimental fracking for shale gas at Preese Hall on the Fylde coast.

…

"It seems quite likely that they are related," said Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey (BGS). "We had a couple of instruments close to the site and they show that both events were close to the site and at a shallow depth.

…

Dr Baptie said: "Our analysis places the epicentre of the (latest) event to within 2km of the Preese Hall site.

"Data from two temporary instruments close to the drill site, installed after the magnitude 2.3 earthquake on 1 April, indicate that the event occurred at a depth of approximately 2km. The recorded wave forms are very similar to those from the magnitude 2.3 event , which suggests that the two events share a similar location and mechanism."

…

[OKIsItJustMe]

17. USGS says, “Yes!”

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/faq/?faqID=1

Q: Can we cause earthquakes? Is there any way to prevent earthquakes?

A: Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in a few locations in the United States, Japan, and Canada. The cause was injection of fluids into deep wells for waste disposal and secondary recovery of oil, and the use of reservoirs for water supplies. Most of these earthquakes were minor. The largest and most widely known resulted from fluid injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado. In 1967, an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 followed a series of smaller earthquakes. Injection had been discontinued at the site in the previous year once the link between the fluid injection and the earlier series of earthquakes was established. (Nicholson, Craig and Wesson, R.L., 1990, Earthquake Hazard Associated with Deep Well Injection--A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1951, 74 p.)

Other human activities, even nuclear detonations, have not been linked to earthquake activity. Energy from nuclear blasts dissipates quickly along the Earth's surface. Earthquakes are part of a global tectonic process that generally occurs well beyond the influence or control of humans. The focus (point of origin) of earthquakes is typically tens to hundreds of miles underground. The scale and force necessary to produce earthquakes are well beyond our daily lives. We cannot prevent earthquakes; however, we can significantly mitigate their effects by identifying hazards, building safer structures, and providing education on earthquake safety.

[ixion]

2. apparently, it does

but I'm sure that won't stop it...

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=fracking+earthquakes&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Fracking causes earthquakes

Induced seismicity, or earthquakes caused by human activities, can be caused by development of hydrocarbon, mineral, and geothermal resources, waste injection, water filling large surface reservoirs, underground nuclear explosions and large-scale construction projects.<1>

Scientists have documented direct connections between earthquakes and both oil and gas extraction and waste-water injection.

Moreover, several studies demonstrate that hydraulic fracturing induces microearthquakes and that the analysis of these microearthquakes can be useful in understanding fracture zones and reservoir production rates.<2>

Recently, earthquakes have occurred more frequently in areas experiencing increased hydraulic fracturing.

http://www.earthworksaction.org/fracturingearthquakes.cfm

[glinda]

7. Yes it does!

[TheWraith]

13. Microquakes != major earthquakes.

You're not going to find any credible scientist who equates microtremors with a 5-6 scale.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TheWraith]

15. Thank you for the ad hominem attack and strawman argument rolled into one.

I'll be sure to note that anyone sticking to an objective version of science, instead of agreeing with you, is apparently in your mind a shill.

[OKIsItJustMe]

18. Just to be clear…

At least one quake of this magnitude was caused by injecting fluid deep underground.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=308641&mesg_id=308775

Frac(k)ing has taken place in Virginia for decades:
http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DGO/documents/HydraulicFracturing.shtml#FracingVA

…

Has fracing been used in Virginia?
Fracing has been utilized in approximately 1,800 wells producing from shale, sandstone and limestone formations drilled in Southwest Virginia since the early to mid-1950’s. More than 5,600 coalbed methane wells are producing from coal seams that have been naturally fractured after mining or have been fraced using water or foam. The fluids used in the fracing process in Virginia are mostly nitrogen-based with water, most commonly called a “foam” frac. A pressurized nitrogen-based foam is used to fracture certain formations of gas deposits. Due to the structure of geologic formations in Virginia, large volumes of water are not used in fracing because it may hinder or block the flow of gas within the formation.

…

Can Fracing in the Marcellus Shale be Conducted Safely in Virginia?
Virginia’s regulatory programs are put in place so that gas and oil development, including development of the Marcellus shale, can be conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible fashion. The fracing process is currently being used to a great extent in Southwest Virginia and is projected to continue as development continues in the Devonian and Marcellus shale formations. There have been no known water quality issues in Virginia directly associated with hydraulic fracturing.

…

However, frac(k)ing does not appear to have occurred close to Mineral Virginia.

[loudsue]

4. Fracking needs to be stopped, but we're owned by the oil & gas industries.

It's a frightening thing, and it certainly can't help the stability of the earth.

[Lorien]

6. We can break free though.. All we have to do is use the internet to organize

and vote in people like your avatar to the top posts. The parties won't do it; it's up to us now.

[Lorien]

5. Good question. There's no major fault lines in the area of the quake

so I think your hypothesis is as good as any.

[FBaggins]

9. There isn't much fracking either.

The plays are mostly on the other side of the Appalacian range.

As I pointed out on another thread, however, "if you do want to come up with theories that blame mankind rather than M. Nature, the nuclear plant that sits close to the epicenter is on a manmade lake created for it. Protests/lawsuits in the 70s claimed that manmade reservoirs could cause earthquakes."

[glinda]

8. Kick for attention.

[Hun Joro]

11. K&R

[YankeyMCC]

12. Clarification of my question

I have heard that fracking can cause quakes in the area of drilling.

That was not my question. The wells are lined to and these linings are claimed to be what protects from the risk of hazardous material (in the solvent or in the shale) from leeching into the cracks in surrounding shale and from there into ground water etc..

I was wondering how those linings would hold up to the seismic activity particularly if it was the very shale they are drilling that acted as a conduit for the seismic waves to bring them so far north.