“The disposal wells dispose into the state’s deepest formation, the Arbuckle formation, which is right above what we call the basement”, Skinner said.
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The state of emergency lasts for 30 days.
Skinner said earthquakes in Oklahoma are generally not caused by fracking, but rather by pressure from the disposal wells. Saturday’s was 3.7 miles deep, compared to 3.1 miles in 2011.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission says the moratorium area includes 211 square miles of Osage County, which is in the Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdiction. This is also the first emergency action taken since the commission was given that authority this year.
The primary cause for human-induced earthquakes in many parts of the central and eastern United States is wastewater disposal, according to a USGS report published in March. In 2014, there were 659 earthquakes of that magnitude or higher.
Hard bedrock beneath the surface in north-central Oklahoma is likely the reason for less damage, Oklahoma Geological Survey geophysicist Jefferson Chang said, adding that the subsurface around Prague is softer.
Halihan said he is concerned about where the next event might hit, as Pawnee was also more populated than Prague. “Larger earthquakes have been at similar depths”. In that quake, two towers collapsed at a university in nearby Shawnee. “And those who were not already awake certainly were awakened by the earthquake” says Mayor Brad Sewell, Pawnee, OK. “And I’ve experienced earthquakes before so I kind of knew what it was”.
Officials say there was no damage to the plant or equipment, and no threat to the public or plant personnel occurred.
Nebraska Public Power District’s Cooper Nuclear Station declared the quake an “unusual event” and stepped up monitoring of its equipment. “He said that’s an quake”.
Following the tremor, the state Corporation Commission ordered 35 wastewater disposal wells within a 500-square-mile (1,295-square-km) area to shut down, Governor Mary Fallin said via Twitter.
In response to a 5.6 magnitude natural disaster near Pawnee Saturday morning, The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has ordered disposal well operators to shut down wells within a 500 mile radius of the epicenter.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a regulatory agency that examines the state’s fuel, oil, gas, public utilities and transportation industries, is “reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the quake near Pawnee”, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said via Twitter. No major damage was reported, and there was one minor injury. The Prague quake resulted in 2 injuries, and over a dozen homes destroyed; it was felt in 17 states.
State and local emergency management officials and officials from the US Geological Survey assessed damage Sunday, according to Mark Randell, Pawnee County’s emergency management director.
The magnitude 5.6 quake was centered near Pawnee, Oklahoma, where it damaged at least one historic building this morning.
According to a USGS report, the Great Plains felt a yearly average of 24 quakes in the years from 1974 to 2008.
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He said his tribal community is in need of serious fix, especially on the Pawnee campus.
