Oklahoma’s quakes calm down

Washington — The rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma has dropped dramatically since late May, when the state limited wastewater injections into energy wells, an Associated Press statistical analysis shows. And a new scientific study says the state is on its way back to calmer times that prevailed before a huge jump in man-made quakes.

For quake-prone parts of Oklahoma, the state ordered what is essentially a 40% reduction in injection of the saltwater that scientists generally blame for the massive increase in earthquakes. This year, before the new rules went into effect on May 28, Oklahoma averaged 2.3 quakes a day. Since then the average dropped to 1.3 a day, based on an analysis of U.S. Geological Survey data of earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or larger. But some of those fewer post-regulatory quakes have been large and damaging.

Immigration: A federal appeals court in San Francisco says immigrants in the United States illegally are not automatically eligible for asylum on the basis that they are former gang members who risk persecution if they return home. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld federal immigration standards that exclude former gang members from social groups that can clearly qualify for protection. Immigration experts say the ruling could affect thousands of immigrants who are fleeing gang-related violence in Central America.