Earthquakes

[plmccordj]

Tonights earthquake in Del City makes eight we have had since December 21st. Looking at the US Geological survey the one that happened today at 12:32 was only one half mile from my house.

Anyone have any ideas what is causing all the activity around here lately? It is becoming a common thing around here.

Paul

[mranderson]

There are small earthquakes constantly. Plus, although some say no, i suspect we are on a fault. Earthquakes are caused by techtonic plates shifting.

[bombermwc]

There is a fault near here...most definitely. If you go to the OK Geo Sruvery site www.okgeocurvey1.gov and watch the little slide show, you will see that just to the southwest of the OKC metro, is an EXTREMELY active area. Granted they are almost always below what we can feel, but it's still a whole lot of shakin' going on.

I would bet that things settle down after we go through an active phase and we'll be done for a number of years. Remember that these have all been at 3.0 or lower, so it's not as though anything is getting broken. the Geo Survey folks say that it really shouldn't even knock things off the walls.

[Lauri101]

I found the rolling floor a bit exciting!

You should have seen the feline reaction around here. Our Norwegian Forest cat jumped about 6 feet in the air, but the Russian Blue and orange tabby woke up, blinked, and went back to sleep!

[Karried]

From University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma Geology: Why Do We Have Earthquakes?

Background: Oklahoma Geology

Although much of Oklahoma belongs to the stable central plains province of the United States, it has been involved in major mounting building and basin forming processes in the past few hundred years. This may help to explain why Oklahoma, although not experiencing major earthquakes activity, nevertheless has a sustained level of seismicity.

Major geological provinces in Oklahoma include 4 mountain ranges or uplifts (Ozark Uplift, Wichita Uplift, Arbuckle Uplift and Ouachita Mountains), 5 basins (Anadarko Basin, Arkoma Basin, Ardmore Basin, Marietta Basin and Hollis Basin), and the Northern Shelf Area. In the far western panhandle is Black Mesa. The Nemaha Ridge runs approximately north-south through north central and central Oklahoma. The Gulf Coastal Plain, consisting of young sedimentary rocks, covers the most southeasterly part of the state.

[bombermwc]

Someone told me today that they heard it was being blamed on drilling at 50th and Bryant. That as they replace the oil with water, it is causing unusual instabilities.

[mranderson]

Someone told me today that they heard it was being blamed on drilling at 50th and Bryant. That as they replace the oil with water, it is causing unusual instabilities.

Drilling of any kind does NOT cause trimmers. If it did, Oklahoma would have major earthquakes quite frequently.

[Lauri101]

From the article I read, the tremors were not caused by the drilling itself, but by the forced injection of liquid against the fault lines.

I'll see if I can find the article online and post it if possible.

[Lauri101]

NewsChannel 8 - Oil And Gas Work Investigated Following Quakes

And the entire article, if link disappears:

Oklahoma City (AP) - The Oklahoma Geological Survey is investigating whether work done by an oil and gas company may be the cause of recent earthquakes in the Midwest City area.

Eight quakes ranging from 1-point-3 to 3-point-0 magnitude have been recorded in the area since December. Before that only nine earthquakes have been recorded in the region in the past 29 years.

Geological Survey director Charlie Mankin says New Dominion LLC has been taking saltwater and oil in the area then injecting leftover saltwater back underground near a fault zone.

He says similar injections have been known to cause earthquakes

But he says there's no clear-cut evidence what the cause is and that it may simply be a natural build-up of stress along the fault line.

In other words, they don't know.

[venture]

Just something interesting in the very diverse envrionment of Oklahoma. I did a research project on volcanic activity in Oklahoma and its pretty interesting what you can find out about this state.

[rowdy73003]

Yes drilling and fluid replacement can cause tremors, its been documented at many drill sites, whether or not its causing these is unknown.

[mranderson]

Yes drilling and fluid replacement can cause tremors, its been documented at many drill sites, whether or not its causing these is unknown.

Again. Someone tries to call me a liar. Not only is my family in the real-estate and stock and bond investment business, we are also in the oil industry. My dad drilled several wells before he died and taught me a bit about the business.

[NE Oasis]

Again. Someone tries to call me a liar. Not only is my family in the real-estate and stock and bond investment business, we are also in the oil industry. My dad drilled several wells before he died and taught me a bit about the business.

Andy, since you have also claimed to be an expert on politics since your father was a politician, when will you amaze us with your skills as rocket scientist, brain surgeon, and nuclear physicist?

[Lauri101]

Andy, since you have also claimed to be an expert on politics since your father was a politician, when will you amaze us with your skills as rocket scientist, brain surgeon, and nuclear physicist?

LOL on this one - GMTA!

[mranderson]

Andy, since you have also claimed to be an expert on politics since your father was a politician, when will you amaze us with your skills as rocket scientist, brain surgeon, and nuclear physicist?

Who is this "Andy?" I am Mr. Anderson. Plus, I have no experience as a Rocket Scientist, "Brain" surgeon, or nuclear physicist. It just happens, for your information, I listened to my dad about politics, business, and the oil industry. That gave me a high degree of expertese in politics and business and a working knowledge in the oil industry, of which I will inherit half of my families royalties. You have to have some savvy to be a wise investor.

[bombermwc]

Well any oil company is going to deny it flat out because it makes them liable for the problem. They say there's no way to prove it, but it's pretty damned convenient that it happens just in line with the process.

Forgive me mranderson, but you aren't your dad so don't claim to have all the oil drilling knowledge just because he "taught you a few things". Otherwise I would say I'm a freaking medical expert, which I'm not.

Global warming....lol.

[Karried]

Mining Caused Major Earthquake

January, 8 @ 13:34 GMT
soficrow Australia,
Mining significantly changed the stress field in the earth's upper crust, reactivated a major fault beneath Newcastle's coalfields, and triggered an earthquake that killed 13 people in 1989 causing billions of dollars in damage, say researchers. The effect is called "geomechanical pollution," and can be created by coal mining, constructing dams and reservoirs, and drilling for oil and gas. Dr Christian Klose, from Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, estimated the $3.5 billion damage from the Newcastle earthquake actually exceeded the total value of the coal extracted.

original news source:

www.smh.com.au

Coalmining set off Newcastle earthquake: researchers

TWO hundred years of underground coalmining triggered the Newcastle earthquake that killed 13 people in 1989 and caused damage that ran to billions of dollars, researchers in the US have found.

Christian Klose, from Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said a major fault beneath Newcastle's coalfields was reactivated after coal was extracted and water was pumped out to keep the longwall mines dry.

In his paper, presented to the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco last month, Dr Klose said geomechanical pollution - the removal of millions of tonnes of coal and four times as much water - had significantly changed the stress field in the earth's upper crust below the Newcastle coalfield since 1801.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

"Geosequestration" projects funded by the World Coal Institute for carbon capture and storage are questionable, because injecting carbon dioxide underground "alters stress in the crust," Klose also told the American Geophysical Union.

Klose identified more than 200 earthquakes caused by humans in the past 60 years - most triggered by coal mining, the construction of reservoirs, and drilling for oil and gas.

The man-made quakes aren't just tiny tremors - what's shocking about them is their size - man-made quakes can be very big.

Mining triggered the biggest quake in Australia's history, for example - causing 13 deaths and $3.5 billion in damage. And in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a trio of man-made quakes rocked an Uzbekistan gas field.

However, oil and gas industry-funded scientists claim the evidence is not conclusive to show that drilling for oil and gas triggers quakes.

( I wonder why they would tell anyone that oil drilling doesn't cause earthquakes?)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Two plates in the Earths crust shifted, tearing the sea floor for 1,000 kilometers north of Indonesia. This created a kind of undersea cliff between 10 and 30 meters high, which happened very rapidly and with the force of many thousands of nuclear bombs. The shockwaves and displacement of water created waves through the ocean into the entire surrounding region.

The Earth right now is experiencing many repercussions of environmental devastation from centuries of civilization, but mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries. And lots of this involves oil.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that all of it involves oil.

I learned today from a writer named Andrew Limburg that there has been much seismic testing for oil off the coast of Australia. Many whales have been beaching themselves in the past few days around this part of the world; all these whale beachings are the result of industry or the military testing underwater weapons. It has long been understood that a method called sonic air testing and other methods of searching for oil can cause geological activity -- that is, earthquakes.

Drilling can also cause earthquakes. An article in the spring 2000 edition of the journal Oilfield Review, titled "Seismicity in the Oilfield," informs us matter-of-factly, "If the rock mass is already under large tectonic stresses, the energy added by man's endeavors can have a destabilizing influence. Even minor actions can trigger strong seismicity" -- that is, quakes.

[venture]

Typically debates have supporting points provided by both side to support their case. I've seen several articles about drilling causing earthquakes...none on the other side. Nothing but the "family" card being used...we've seen how well that has worked before...

"After all, this is a guy that tried to kill my dad at one time. "
- George W Bush, On Saddam Hussein, remarks in Houston, Texas, (September 26, 2002)

We love our family...but geesh, stop for a moment and be fair and open minded. We all have life experiences. No we aren't all as old as the other, but that gives us all a different perspective. A unique one. If we ran the world on one specific viewpoint, we would be in ruin or chaos right now. Also, no one cares how much you make, what your family did, what other "frills" you may have that you believes elevates you to a different class. If you have an income you are happy with, a job you love, special people around you, and able to do the things you like to do...you have it pretty well made and no amount of money should change that.

We come here and love to chat about OKC. We don't need to be told that our opinions don't count or that we aren't educated enough to make a comment. Anyone who has a vested interest in this community should be allowed to post their thoughts. They also should be free to post their thoughts without the fear of unwarranted attacks that get personal.

[Curt]

I still think it is because of all the Toyotas and Hondas people are buying...the Japs have been drilling tunnels into America with all the money they are making from Americans buying their cars........Just joking....lighten up would ya

[bombermwc]

So basically, I'm going to trust the geological folks, not the oil folks...driller or not. A person in the oil industry is of course NOT going to aknowledge the fact that their business may have harmful side effects. I would consider the geoloical folks unbiased and able to make very fair decisions. They can't say with full certainty that the drilling/refill causes the termor. But they do have high observation evidence to say that it does. I'm sure that the oil folks have less evidence showing that it doesn't but are much quicker to say that it's not their fault.

Just because we don't agree with mranderson and his family opinion, doesn't mean we can't have an adult conversation. I would never accept someone's opinion based solely on their experience with family members....it leaves so much out that it's not legitimate. So, until there is someone that actually works in both fields that have SCIENTIFIC evidence and not opinion....i'm going believe that the drilling refill is what caused it.

[dismayed]

You know the ironic thing about all of this is that I was in San Francisco standing at the site of the 1906 earth quake when this happened a few weeks ago.