Not Quite News: Another fracking-related (wastewater injection) earthquake. This one was pretty big -- 5.7, one of a swarm that included two other 5+ quakes. The boom in fracking in the central United States has paralleled an uptick in seismicity, with moderate-size earthquakes increasing in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio and Arkansas. The number of quakes in the central United States has jumped 11-fold in the past 30 years, according to the March 2013 Geology study. Theres been a world-wide uptick in minor quakes, too, hypothesized to be due to isostatic rebound due to the loss of so much ice in recent years. That hypothesis is, of course, subject to change, but its worth watching to see whether it becomes better supported or falsified.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 07:14:02 +0000