Earthquakes

[mranderson]

DING DING DING! We have a winner!
I'm no expert on geology or drilling, but when I do several quick searches on the subject on Google and find actual experts saying that it is a possibility then I can't help but take issue with mranderson's "facts". Drilling could be the reason, or it could be a natural thing. But to vehemently dismiss the possibility that it could be drilling is stupid.

I could still care less. I would rather trust people that have been in the business probably long before you were even born than a bunch of brainwashed book nerds. (no one in particular is mentioned.)

[MrZ]

People once thought the world was flat also. They weren't stupid, they just didn't have all the facts. If they had satellites and airplanes they would have a different opinion. Take a bit to do some research on the subject and you will find some info that is written by people who are more than just "brainwashed book nerds".

[Lauri101]

mranderson,

I am the exact same age as you are. (perhaps older - I was born at 5 AM on 3/14/55) My father was a geologist until his death. I grew up on geology terms, well-sitting and plat maps.

Geology is a SCIENCE. Scientific facts change with knowledge. When my father died, heart bypass surgery was an experimental procedure with a 10% survival rate. Now, heart bypass procedures are as routine as tonsilectomies.

You are way too young to be so set in your ways to not recognize the differences between fact and opinion or between history and new information.

My words may have as much effect as chattering at a brick wall, but I feel better!

[mranderson]

Again. I know what I was told by my own dad and many internationally known oil men. Many who are so wealthy as a result of the oil industry, they could end poverty if they so chose.

Who do I believe? Your dad who probably never drilled a well in his life or men who drilled hundreds? Humm. I think I will believe the oilmen.

[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?)

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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

[Easy180]

Again. I know what I was told by my own dad and many internationally known oil men. Many who are so wealthy as a result of the oil industry, they could end poverty if they so chose.

Who do I believe? Your dad who probably never drilled a well in his life or men who drilled hundreds? Humm. I think I will believe the oilmen.

Of course all wealthy oil men are extremely intelligent and have spent their lives researching the effects of drilling and the potential to cause tremors

If you choose to ignore what scientists are throwing out there and in turn stick to something said by some guys over beers then so be it....If it works for you it works for me

[rowdy73003]

hey anderson, did your dad also tell you that he invented electricity and ben franklin was the devil?

[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.