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Fracking and Earthquakes

Does fracking cause quakes?

  • Yes, and it'll release a monster one soon.

    Votes: 1 25.0%

  • Nah, it's junk science with no proof.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The tectonic plates around the world are naturally unstable.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • It cause little ones, not worth stopping fracking over.

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    4
grip

grip

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Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and other states are experiencing an increase in earthquake swarms, since fracking (hydraulic fracturing) began. L.A. recently had a larger one, with an epicenter, only 8 miles from fracking locations.

Are these mini-quakes a result of the new oil/gas extraction technique that has created an energy boom for the U.S., and are they worth worrying over if true?


Fracking refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the wellbore, from where it can be extracted.



State Takes Fracking Action After Swarm Of Earthquakes « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

?Oklahoma earthquake spike likely linked to fracking boom ? RT USA

Is fracking causing earthquakes in Texas? - Fortune Features

Was the Los Angeles Earthquake Caused by Fracking Techniques? | Mother Jones
 
It's possible. Corporate pushed this through government ASAP with no real research or data. Got buddies who live in OK and tell about how there are earthquakes now in areas that never had them before.
 
I find it likely that when you remove material from the ground en mass, you will destabilize it by doing so. In areas predisposed to instability, it should inevitable result in earthquake activity.

As long as Yellowstone, San Andreas, New Madrid....etc can be avoided, we should be pretty safe.


I worry more about contaminated groundwater.
 
It likely does cause slippage and creates pockets but, as long as they stay away from major quake-prone areas like California and the New Madrid region, it probably won't hurt.

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Dang tecoyah, we're on the same wavelength. :)
 
grip said:
Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and other states are experiencing an increase in earthquake swarms, since fracking (hydraulic fracturing) began. L.A. recently had a larger one, with an epicenter, only 8 miles from fracking locations.

Are these mini-quakes a result of the new oil/gas extraction technique that has created an energy boom for the U.S., and are they worth worrying over if true?


Fracking refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the wellbore, from where it can be extracted.



State Takes Fracking Action After Swarm Of Earthquakes « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

?Oklahoma earthquake spike likely linked to fracking boom ? RT USA

Is fracking causing earthquakes in Texas? - Fortune Features

Was the Los Angeles Earthquake Caused by Fracking Techniques? | Mother Jones
Click to expand...

I kind of think earthquakes might be caused by fracking. It seems a little suspicious that these things are happening right as fracking has been going on. I do not remember hearing about earthquake in Oklahoma when I was a kid.Maybe they did happen when I was a kid and the media just didn't report them or only did token mentions of them. If it is true that fracking is causing earthquakes then these companies should be liable for any earthquake damage that occurs to people's property(which would explain the eagerness to try to claim that fracking is not causing earthquakes).
 
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grip said:
Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and other states are experiencing an increase in earthquake swarms, since fracking (hydraulic fracturing) began. L.A. recently had a larger one, with an epicenter, only 8 miles from fracking locations.

Are these mini-quakes a result of the new oil/gas extraction technique that has created an energy boom for the U.S., and are they worth worrying over if true?


Fracking refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the wellbore, from where it can be extracted.



State Takes Fracking Action After Swarm Of Earthquakes « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

?Oklahoma earthquake spike likely linked to fracking boom ? RT USA

Is fracking causing earthquakes in Texas? - Fortune Features

Was the Los Angeles Earthquake Caused by Fracking Techniques? | Mother Jones
Click to expand...

I'm of the belief that it does. For one reason.

Years ago, my mother & dad purchased property in a southern Illinois town, 2,300 people.
Marathon Oil Company was fracking in that area for years and years, before it became so popular today.

About 2 or 3 times a month, they'd experience mild tremors, usually no larger than a 3.0 on the Richter Scale. The local newspaper always reported the tremors.

Logic is a scientists best friend. If you pump waste water mixed with chemicals into a hole bored into the ground to force out oil into another hole bored into the ground, something's gotta give. And, without the town treating the water, if you had a well for water, it needed to be treated, or not used for human or animal consumption at all.

It’s called the New Albany Shale formation and runs across portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. It can only be accessed by horizontal fracking - which involves blasting cracks in the rock formations and then injecting water, sand, and a small mixture of chemicals to force the extraction of both oil and gas. The well is first dug vertically, and then curves horizontally and can run for miles beneath the surface.

Smaller scale "vertical fracking" has been going on in Illinois for years - but it doesn't produce the volume that horizontal fracking promises. It's the same process that has led to an economic boom in North Dakota.
Click to expand...
The Fuss Over Fracking | Chicago Tonight | WTTW
 
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I've never fracked during an earthquake, but I bet it'd be fun. I'm guessing it'd make her think I'm doing more work than I actually am.
 
jamesrage said:
I kind of think earthquakes might be caused by fracking. It seems a little suspicious that these things are happening right as fracking has been going on. I do not remember hearing about earthquake in Oklahoma when I was a kid.Maybe they did happen when I was a kid and the media just didn't report them or only did token mentions of them. If it is true that fracking is causing earthquakes then these companies should be liable for any earthquake damage that occurs to people's property(which would explain the eagerness to try to claim that fracking is not causing earthquakes).
Click to expand...


AJiveMan said:
I'm of the belief that it does. For one reason.

Years ago, my mother & dad purchased property in a southern Illinois town, 2,300 people.
Marathon Oil Company was fracking in that area for years and years, before it became so popular today.

About 2 or 3 times a month, they'd experience mild tremors, usually no larger than a 3.0 on the Richter Scale. The local newspaper always reported the tremors.

Logic is a scientists best friend. If you pump waste water mixed with chemicals into a hole bored into the ground to force out oil into another hole bored into the ground, something's gotta give. And, without the town treating the water, if you had a well for water, it needed to be treated, or not used for human or animal consumption at all.


The Fuss Over Fracking | Chicago Tonight | WTTW
Click to expand...


I think it's causing swarms of little ones but it's not worth stopping for the rewards. The depth of earthquakes, often come from deeper areas, though shallow can be destructive. But if they find evidence that the process is destabilizing the plates or potentially setting up larger ones, then they need to study and limit the procedures more.
 
grip said:
I think it's causing swarms of little ones but it's not worth stopping for the rewards. The depth of earthquakes, often come from deeper areas, though shallow can be destructive. But if they find evidence that the process is destabilizing the plates or potentially setting up larger ones, then they need to study and limit the procedures more.
Click to expand...

More research would be a good thing, but just so people know, the fracking procedures of long ago are not the same as the ones being used present day. Years ago, vertical fracking was the practice, now, they're performing horizontal fracking, quite different than what we're used to hearing or having knowledge about.
 
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