Quake uptick traced in Rockies region
Wastewater injection called the likely cause in research
An increase in earthquakes in the Rocky Mountain and Oklahoma region is likely tied to an uptick in wastewater injection, a process used to dispose of water in oil and gas operations, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Energy Department cited research from the U.S. Geological Survey, which has found that earthquakes in oil- and gas-producing regions of the country have increased dramatically since 2009. The earthquakes, have coincided with shale booms in Oklahoma, Colorado and California.
These quakes are usually in the three or four magnitude range, meaning they don’t cause damage, but people can feel noticeable tremors and see hanging objects swing.
There have been increased reports of small earthquakes in Texas, but oil and gas regulators have said they don’t believe the rise of earthquakes in the state can be connected to oil and gas operations. But a ground-breaking report released this week suggested otherwise — namely that the shale boom has caused earthquakes, degraded natural resources and overwhelmed small communities.
The problem of earthquakes in Texas persists. On Wednesday night, a weak earthquake, of 2.8 magnitude, rattled the North Texas towns of Reno and Azle , according to reports from the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey.
The earthquake was recorded southwest of Reno, a community of around 2,400 near Fort Worth. More than 110 people in the two towns reported to the agency that they felt the quake, according to the agency’s website. In 2013 and 2014, the comm
unities experienced an unusual number of earthquakes that studies later suggested might have been connected to wastewater injection.
Since January, the Geological Survey has recorded eight earthquakes in Reeves County — in the heart of the Delaware basin — the latest of which was a 3.2 magnitude outside of the town of Pecos.
Oklahoma seems to be particularly susceptible to earthquakes caused by wastewater injection, the Energy Department noted. The state naturally has greater amounts of water mixed with its oil and gas, which means drillers have more water that needs disposal. Oklahoma’s geology also has existing faults that are stressed by wastewater injection.
Other oil and gas states like North Dakota and Montana, which share the Bakken region, rarely experience earthquakes, the Department of Energy said.
A drop in oil prices, and therefore production, helped curtail a further increase in earthquakes, according to the USGS report. Some states, like Oklahoma, have also started limiting wastewater injection.