Earthquakes

Seismologists at Southern Methodist University said Tuesday that high volumes of wastewater injection combined with saltwater extraction…

New research published by the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America reaffirms conclusions reached by Ohio regulators that horizontal hydraulic fracturing operations at a Hilcorp Energy Co. site in March activated a previously unknown fault line and triggered a series of earthquakes.

A former top official at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) says the issue of induced seismicity related to oil and natural gas activity is not going away anytime soon, and he urged both the industry and state regulators to work to ease public concern and prevent future incidents.

A study published in the journal Seismological Research Letters suggests that horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Ohio’s Utica Shale triggered a series of 400 small earthquakes in Harrison County over a two-month period last year.

Twenty-six small earthquakes have rattled the state of Oklahoma over the past week — including seven on Saturday alone — according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

A state that helped pioneer research in induced earthquakes a half century ago, Colorado this month joined several other states with robust oil and natural gas exploration and production activity in trying to determine if the advent of small quakes is directly related to drilling.

With growing attention being paid to tremors thought to be associated with drilling waste injection wells, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has made good on its promise to hire a seismologist to study the issue.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has ordered Hilcorp Energy Co. to temporarily halt its operations in Northeast Ohio after a series of minor earthquakes were felt in several townships just miles from where the company has drilled seven wells and has plans for others.

Walls and driveways are cracked at homes in and around Azle, TX; sinkholes have wiped out property values; children and horses are scared, and the elderly are rousted from their beds in the middle of the night — all by a swarm of more than 30 earthquakes since early November that the afflicted blame on drilling waste injection wells in the region.