Quakes lead to closure of well
Scientists, regulators to investigate possible link
“I only felt the one Tuesday. It scared me.”
Nicole Sustaire
Owner Grandpa's Pizza/Hatch Chile Grill
QUINTON — The strongest in a swarm of earthquakes that have been shaking eastern Oklahoma this month caught the attention of numerous residents in Quinton on Tuesday.
Among those surprised by the shaking was Nicole Sustaire, who owns Grandpa’s Pizza/Hatch Chile Grill in town.
“I only felt the one Tuesday,” Sustaire said. “It scared me. I was just standing there cooking, and I felt the shaking and looked up and my tiles were shaking on the ceiling.”
The unusual activity, which
scientists have linked in other locations to injected saltwater produced as part of the recovery of oil and gas, prompted the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s induced seismicity department to direct the owner of a nearby well to suspend operations on Aug. 16.
A page that tracks earthquakes for the Oklahoma Geological Survey shows that more than a half-dozen weaker earthquakes also happened near Quinton yesterday, while dozens of others have been observed in the same area since the start of August.
The directive was issued so that regulators and scientists can investigate whether there is a potential link between the well site and the temblors. The well site is owned by Waterbridge Arkoma Operating and called Strait 1 SWD.
The Strait 1 SWD was permitted to inject saltwater into the Simpson, Tulip Creek, McLish, Wilcox and Oil Creek geological formations that run through that region of the state.
It never has injected water into the deeper Arbuckle formation, a discontinued practice that scientists typically have linked to past seismic events across the state.
However, investigators are attempting to determine whether one of the formations used by the Strait SWD is communicating with the deeper formation. Officials stressed the investigation has not yet drawn any conclusions as to why the earthquakes have been happening.
The Strait 1 SWD is the only operating disposal well in the area, they said.
Sustaire said she hasn’t visited with anyone who has told her they experienced any type of property damage because of the earthquakes.
Tuesday’s temblor shook her property for about 15 seconds.
“It was over pretty fast, and it wasn’t that bad, but it is the worst one I’ve felt here.”
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 10:24 a.m. earthquake’s epicenter was about 1 kilometer south of Quinton and may have been felt as far away as Muskogee and Fort Smith, Arkansas.