2014 Oklahoma Earthquake Discussion

[Bunty]

An outsider's perspective upon Oklahoma's recent earthquake activity and elsewhere in the world.

[Bellaboo]

There has been just as much fracking in western Oklahoma, with zero earthquakes. If fracking is causing it, it's due to the fact of where the fault lines lie.

Hope this makes sense.

[venture]

There has been just as much fracking in western Oklahoma, with zero earthquakes. If fracking is causing it, it's due to the fact of where the fault lines lie.

Hope this makes sense.

I think it is safe to say we really don't know the exact reason why we've become of the top seismically active states in the nation. We can list all the various theories, but no one here and definitely not those with a special interest for/against oil and natural gas will be able to provide an answer or correct test those theories.

[Bunty]

There has been just as much fracking in western Oklahoma, with zero earthquakes. If fracking is causing it, it's due to the fact of where the fault lines lie.

Hope this makes sense.

I hope the earthquake intensities don't increase to keep pressure contained on the oil companies as the source for blame. Their current level of intensity and their centering in rural areas isn't too hard to tolerate, if caused by oil field operations. If they take a turn for the worse and cause deaths and injury, then, I imagine it would be highly prudent for the governor to demand a moratorium on oil and gas drilling to be put into place in the region where the quakes are coming from, especially if geologic experts suggest it.

[kevinpate]

Not sure there is any real connection, but maybe the party's out near Sparks are getting a bit rowdier?

[Bunty]

An interesting article from about a year ago: Wastewater Injection Spurred Biggest Earthquake Yet, Says Study - The Earth Institute - Columbia University

[Bellaboo]

An interesting article from about a year ago: Wastewater Injection Spurred Biggest Earthquake Yet, Says Study - The Earth Institute - Columbia University

This kind of backs up what I was trying to say.... the salt water disposal wells may be causing it, it just has to have a fault nearby to create the quake. The article also says they've been doing the wastewater injustions for 17 years in the area without incidence.

So is it fracking or saltwater injection that's the root of the cause, or maybe both?

[jedicurt]

or a completely natural increase in seismic activity... i mean after all, Oklahoma has a long history of seismic activity. We just have only been keeping records of it for a fairly short amount of time

[ylouder]

A whole lot of special interest going on in this thread....

Fracing waste water Wells from Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and dozens of other places with almost no recorded seismic activity until the last..o seven years....that have 1 thing in common.

Nothing to see here move along.

[ylouder]

This whole fake industry discussion reminds me of the 25 years it took to kinda sorta say that cigarettes may have something to slightly due with cancer.

[Bunty]

A whole lot of special interest going on in this thread....

Fracing waste water Wells from Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and dozens of other places with almost no recorded seismic activity until the last..o seven years....that have 1 thing in common.

Nothing to see here move along.

In other words, cause should not be confused with correlation when it comes to oil field operations and earthquakes.

[SoonerDave]

This whole fake industry discussion reminds me of the 25 years it took to kinda sorta say that cigarettes may have something to slightly due with cancer.

Good to know we aren't hearing any hyperbole from the other side...

[ljbab728]

This kind of backs up what I was trying to say.... the salt water disposal wells may be causing it, it just has to have a fault nearby to create the quake. The article also says they've been doing the wastewater injustions for 17 years in the area without incidence.

So is it fracking or saltwater injection that's the root of the cause, or maybe both?

So is our fracking affecting South Carolina too? Of course they have all of that saltwater right next to them so that could be the problem too. LOL

Small quake in SC felt hundreds of miles away | News OK

[PWitty]

Fracking has nothing to do with it. The theory is that brine water disposal wells that are located near fault lines are the cause of increased seismic activity. I wish people would quit confusing the two. Brine water disposal wells are necessary even if multi-stage fracking isn't being done. Every oil/gas well produces brine water regardless of the completion technique that was used on it. The use of multi-stage fracking just increases the amount of produced brine water up front which leads to more brine being sent downhole in those disposal wells the first couple months.

People who say the force from the perf guns going off are causing the earthquakes are nuts. I've been on the surface when those go off many times and you never even feel anything immediately above it, let alone miles around it.

Honestly it seems like a pretty easy theory to test. Quit disposing of water in disposal wells that are located near fault lines for awhile and see if seismic activity decreases or not. I guess it hasn't gotten to the point where anyone feels that's necessary though.

[catch22]

How much time elapses between when the last water was pumped down hole, and when the nearest measurable earthquake occurred. Regarding the video, simply looking at a map is not thorough enough.

[Bunty]

Fracking has nothing to do with it. The theory is that brine water disposal wells that are located near fault lines are the cause of increased seismic activity. I wish people would quit confusing the two. Brine water disposal wells are necessary even if multi-stage fracking isn't being done. Every oil/gas well produces brine water regardless of the completion technique that was used on it. The use of multi-stage fracking just increases the amount of produced brine water up front which leads to more brine being sent downhole in those disposal wells the first couple months.

People who say the force from the perf guns going off are causing the earthquakes are nuts. I've been on the surface when those go off many times and you never even feel anything immediately above it, let alone miles around it.

Honestly it seems like a pretty easy theory to test. Quit disposing of water in disposal wells that are located near fault lines for awhile and see if seismic activity decreases or not. I guess it hasn't gotten to the point where anyone feels that's necessary though.

It may not be near a fault, but the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered a disposal well operator to suspend operations. EARTHWORKS | Officials in the swarm zone taking action after taking heat

[PWitty]

It may not be near a fault, but the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered a disposal well operator to suspend operations. EARTHWORKS | Officials in the swarm zone taking action after taking heat

Good stuff. It's good to see that they're using that "traffic light" approach and are taking the issue seriously while they collect data. I wish they would clear up their terminology though. "Injection wells" are water injection wells used in secondary recovery techniques. What they should be calling these are "disposal wells". The principal is the same but the use is different.

I know up in PA they have "water impoundments" that are operated by the E&P company that is utilizing them, and they're also different. In that case they inject the produced water immediately after fracturing operations are complete and then come back and withdrawal water from the same impoundment to use in other fracturing jobs. They're essentially used as short-term storage until the water is recycled and used again. I'm not sure if they use this same procedure in OK/TX or not. Like I said it is hard to tell because of their terminology.

I know that PA isn't shaded in the map at the top, but looking at that I would assume that PA is the only state to require the impoundments I mentioned. They don't seem to have any earthquakes based on that image. That's fascinating, if true, because the Marcellus (PA) is probably the third most active field in the US behind the Eagleford and Bakken.

Edit: Just saw that the Bakken (ND) and Eagleford (South TX) don't have any data points indicating recent earthquakes. That would tell me that the problem isn't disposal wells, but more specifically disposal wells located near major faults. There is no other way to explain for those areas not having major seismic activity if the problem is the sheer amount of fluid being disposed of, because those are by far the two most active fields. Or it could just be that the image doesn't include those areas, I don't know.

[CaptDave]

Just had a little shaker in North OKC/West Edmond @ 1951.

[BlackmoreRulz]

Shook pretty hard here.

[PennyQuilts]

It isn't coming up on my quake feed - what size was it do you suppose?

[BlackmoreRulz]

Says 3.5 on the above website, heard a muffled boom and then the house shuddered a bit

[oklip955]

Felt that one east of I-35 in Edmond.

[ljbab728]

3.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Guthrie | News OK

[Dustin]

I'm pretty sure that was an earthquake just now... Anyone else feel it?

[ryanosu]

I'm pretty sure that was an earthquake just now... Anyone else feel it?

Yep - jolted the house in SE Edmond.