A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Saturday morning near Pawnee, Oklahoma, rattling through at least six surrounding states in the US heartland, according to the US Geological Survey.
takyon: The story has been updated to note:
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is telling operators to shut down 35 disposal wells that may have played a role in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook at least six states Saturday, Gov. Mary Fallin said. The disposal wells, which are linked to fracking and other industries that need to dispose of toxic waste water by injecting it deep into the earth, have recently drawn concern that they may actually induce earthquakes.
USGS: M5.6 - 15km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 05 2016, @04:41PM
wtf is more disturbing to me is the mention of depositing toxic waste deep into the earth for "storage". i'm not against industry at all but this sounds really fracking stupid! who allowed this shit? it sounds like they are bypassing the earth's natural anti-dipshit defenses(layers of sand and rock) and drilling deep into her heart to squirt poison in! Is Dr Evil running this operation? am i missing something, is it actually super safe somehow? you know, besides fracking the hell out of the earth's crust causing earthquakes and shit?
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday September 05 2016, @10:44PM
In A View to a Kill, the Max Zorin character plotted to inject seawater into an earthquake fault to make it slip. Of course, someone who tried that in real life would succeed.