USGS also updated another record of a previous natural disaster that hit Prague in Oklahoma on November 6, 2011 from magnitude 5.6 to 5.7. OCC’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division (OGCD) ordered 37 disposal wells targeting the Arbuckle formation to cease operations in response to the quake. Earlier this year Oklahoma regulators limited the disposal of oilfield wastewater in the state, hoping to prevent seismic activity.
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This map features the Area of Interest (AOI) and action being taken by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division (OGCD) in response to the magnitude 5.6 quake near Pawnee Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016.
The shutdown will also have negative impacts on oil companies operating in the region and on industry-generated income going to the state, Warmington said.
Scientists still don’t fully understand the exact mechanism that causes wastewater injection in certain regions to increase seismic activity, Warmington said.
He stressed that there is now no other economically or environmentally responsible way to deal with the brackish wastewater from drilling operations other than injecting it deep into the ground.
“That’s what we worry about”, McNamara said.
Thousands of other disposal wells operate in the state without such seismic effects, Warmington said. But this latest quake may trigger calls for more limits on wastewater wells in the state.
“USGS analyses indicate that the two earthquakes are very similar in size – to within typically-cited uncertainties of 0.1 magnitude units”, said Gavin Hayes, USGS research geophysicist. Questions regarding their relative size prompted a re-analysis of both earthquakes, says the USGS.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it has ordered the closure of 17 additional disposal sites under its jurisdiction in Osage County.
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According to Doak, “earthquake coverage is for catastrophic loss”, which means you have to have major damage before collecting on that insurance. “It could be a natural quake”.
