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WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists are finding that earthquakes in the central United States are increasing the most in areas where oil and gas companies are pumping their saltwater waste into the ground at the fastest rate.
According to a study in the journal Science, an unprecedented recent jump in quakes in America's heartland can be traced to the stepped-up rate at which drilling wastewater is injected deep below the surface.
The study from the University of Colorado found that it's not so much the average-sized injection wells that are causing the ground to shake -- it's the supercharged ones. Wells that pumped more than 12 million gallons of saltwater into the ground per month were far more likely to trigger quakes than those that put smaller amounts in.
Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and other states have seen increases in earthquakes. But the biggest jump has been in Oklahoma. Recent studies linked a damaging 2011 quake in Prague, Oklahoma, to a nearby high-rate injection well.
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APPHOTO NY692: FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2013 file photo, Prague, Okla. resident Mary Reneau, 70, points to the hairline cracks that have formed in the concrete of her patio that she says were caused by several earthquakes that have rumbled through her town in the past two years. The more and faster oil and gas companies pump their saltwater waste into the ground, the more they have triggered earthquakes in the central United States, a massive new study from the University of Colorado found. Results were published in the journal Science on Thursday, June 18, 2015. Although Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and other states have seen increases in earthquakes, the biggest jump has been in Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Justin Juozapavicius) (24 Oct 2013)
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