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A new study, released by the Seismological Society of America on Monday, has confirmed that a series of small earthquakes experienced in Ohio were triggered by fracking activity. This seismic sequence, which took place in March 2014, comprised five recorded earthquakes, ranging from magnitude 2.1 to 3.0.
One of these events was a rare “felt” earthquake, meaning it was large enough to be felt by people in nearby towns, although it didn’t pose any risk and didn’t cause damage. Given the fact that the events took place within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of a group of oil and gas wells, state officials decided to halt operations two days after the 3.0 quake hit. Since then, scientists have been scouring through seismic data to determine whether the fracking activity was to blame, and the results have now been published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing as it is correctly termed, is a technique designed to extract natural gas and oil from shale rock layers deep within the Earth. It involves drilling deep into the Earth’s surface, reaching depths of one to two miles or more, before blasting the rock with a high-pressure water mixture. This opens up new cracks and channels in the rock from which trapped gas can escape up the well bore.
It’s well known that fracking triggers tiny tremors; it’s a pretty explosive process, but usually these are far too small to be felt by humans in the surrounding area. It’s therefore quite unusual for the activity to have triggered a felt earthquake in Ohio. However, as explained in a press release from the SSA, seismic monitoring advances and an increase in the popularity of fracking have meant that the number of earthquakes—both felt and unfelt—associated with the activity has started to increase in recent years.
Read more:
Study Confirms Earthquakes In Ohio Were Triggered By Fracking | IFLScience
One of these events was a rare “felt” earthquake, meaning it was large enough to be felt by people in nearby towns, although it didn’t pose any risk and didn’t cause damage. Given the fact that the events took place within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of a group of oil and gas wells, state officials decided to halt operations two days after the 3.0 quake hit. Since then, scientists have been scouring through seismic data to determine whether the fracking activity was to blame, and the results have now been published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing as it is correctly termed, is a technique designed to extract natural gas and oil from shale rock layers deep within the Earth. It involves drilling deep into the Earth’s surface, reaching depths of one to two miles or more, before blasting the rock with a high-pressure water mixture. This opens up new cracks and channels in the rock from which trapped gas can escape up the well bore.
It’s well known that fracking triggers tiny tremors; it’s a pretty explosive process, but usually these are far too small to be felt by humans in the surrounding area. It’s therefore quite unusual for the activity to have triggered a felt earthquake in Ohio. However, as explained in a press release from the SSA, seismic monitoring advances and an increase in the popularity of fracking have meant that the number of earthquakes—both felt and unfelt—associated with the activity has started to increase in recent years.
Read more:
Study Confirms Earthquakes In Ohio Were Triggered By Fracking | IFLScience