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An earthquake of 5.0 magnitude occurred on Sunday, 6 November near the Oklahoma town of Cushing. "[T]he largest crude oil storage facility in the world" lies near the town; a U.S. Geological Survey report published in 2015 had warned of the potential for damaging earthquakes near Cushing. Oklahoma and Kansas have been experiencing numerous earthquakes, mostly minor, since 2009. Figures from ABC News show an increasing frequency of earthquakes:
The USGS recorded 1,010 earthquakes of a magnitude 3.0 or greater in the region last year, nearly three times as many as the 318 temblors of this magnitude in 2009. Oklahoma alone felt 619 quakes of a magnitude 2.8 or larger from January through June of this year.
The strongest recorded in Oklahoma, of magnitude 5.8, happened on 3 September. Underground disposal of waste water from the oil and gas industry is believed to be a cause of the seismicity; there is also speculation that hydrofracturing is a factor.
There were minor injuries and several buildings were damaged; no damage to the area's pipelines has been reported. Schools in the area are to be closed Monday, so they may be checked for damage.
coverage:
- CBS News
- Reuters via KELO
- WFAA-TV
- NBC News
- ABC News
- Chicago Tribune
- CNBC
- UPI
- Kevin Stump (photo of damage to a building's façade)
- Jacob DeFlitch (photo of damage to the back of a building)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Tuesday November 08 2016, @10:54PM
Guys, we said the the North would get the blizzards, tornadoes and the long winters, the South and South East would get the hurricanes, tornadoes and humidity, and we were really clear that all of these wouldn't matter because "at least we don't get earthquakes like the West coast". That's the way it work. English-style stiff upper lip, our weather sucks but you can trust the ground around here!
Now, I know that the plan got derailed by that giant fault in the upper midwest, but it is indeed as quiet as Madrid around siesta time. Who the hell fucked it all up by coming up with the stupid idea of manufacturing earthquakes in OK, of all places?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 09 2016, @12:27AM
Who the hell fucked it all up by coming up with the stupid idea of manufacturing earthquakes in OK, of all places?
Who the hell fucked up human communication by giving me a place where I could post stuff? The oil industry is no more about generating earthquakes in Oklahoma than the internet is about khallow rants.
But unintended consequences happen. And we have to decide whether the consequence is worse than the activity. Here, I think that if the particular water disposal process were to go on indefinitely, 6+ magnitude earthquakes would happen at about 3% of the frequency of magnitude 5+ earthquakes (the frequency distribution of these particular earthquakes appears to be inversely proportional to the energy of the earthquakes and jumping an order of magnitude increases energy released by the earthquake by 10^1.5 which is roughly a factor of 30). I think the Oklahoma earthquakes are directly related to current activity. If they were to stop pumping waste fluid into the earth under pressure, I think the majority of earthquakes would stop.
Eyeballing this Wikipedia chart, I gather 5+ magnitude earthquakes have a frequency of roughly one 5+ magnitude earthquake every year under current activity. That would imply a 6+ magnitude quake every 30 years at current rates. It's worth noting that most of the current activity will be long over by then.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 09 2016, @12:30AM