Oklahoma geologists have documented links between increased seismic activity in the state and the injection into the ground of wastewater from oil and gas production, according to a report from a state agency previous year.
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Skinner insists Oklahoma’s earthquakes are not directly caused by fracking, but he does agree that the pressure from the disposal wells used to get rid of toxic wastewater from fracking may be the problem.
The quake, which damaged some buildings but didn’t cause serious injuries, spurred Oklahoma regulators within hours to demand that operators of 37 disposal wells in a 500-square-mile area shut down.
Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said Sunday that emergency officials and the U.S. Geological Survey are examining the area and finding only minor to moderate damage.
“Earthquakes are created when you get movement in faults and knowing exactly what caused this particular quake, I think it is a little early for me to sit here and say”, Director of Kansas Geological Survey, Rex Buchanan said.
In downtown Pawnee, the worst damage was to the old Arkansas Valley National Bank building.
Randell also said a man suffered a minor head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him as he protected a child. Randell said the man was treated at a hospital and released.
Tom Berger, director of the Dubuque County Emergency Management Agency, said the state is considering hosting some quake preparedness programs. Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.
Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought the rumbling was a thunderstorm. Debris landed on a few chairs, Frazee said, but the damage was minimal.
Caruso says they have minimum staff in for the holiday weekend, but once the holiday is over, USGS will look into more details into the exact cause of this natural disaster. Saturday’s quake matches the strongest recorded tremor ever to have hit the area, which occurred in 2011.
“At this point, we don’t know if it is related to waste water injection, but it’s very similar to other sequences that have been, so it’s highly likely”, said McNamara.
The U.S.G.S. says at least ten additional quakes have struck near Pawnee, ranging from 2.7 to 3.6 in magnitude.
Oklahoma is now experiencing 2.5 earthquakes of magnitude three or larger earthquakes per day, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. “Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses”.
Staffers at the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in southeast Kansas found no damage to the plant after the quake.
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“Oklahoma has had a big increase in seismicity over the past 4 or 5 years, so has south-central Kansas”, Buchanan said.
