I remember the first time I experienced an earthquake.  I was in Long Beach (CA) and was awakened in the middle of the night.  I looked out my sliding glass doors and noticed that the pool was sloshing about.  True, it was early in the morning, but even my addled brain recognized that pools don’t slosh when no one was in them.

That was but the first of many such experiences.   (Including two in Virginia, one of which shattered the foundation of my home.)   But, nowadays, earthquakes are no longer “natural disasters”.  Nope.  Now, the earthquakes in many parts of the US (and world) are due to the fracking (hydraulic fracturing to recover oil and/or natural gas) that seems to be effected willy-nilly.  (Or, at least, with very little regulatory oversight.)

I reported on the problems associated with fracking and earthquakes about 4 years ago.  And, with fracking processes growing-with its associated wastewater injection- the problem has only gotten worse.

The production of oil and gas from subsurface shale comes about by pumping ….-loads of water- and chemicals- into the ground.    And, then the produced wastewater is pumped (“back”) into the ground.   The state of Oklahoma had already admitted that their increased ground activity (i.e., earthquakes) is a direct result of all this fracking.   (These earthquakes are not all minor.  They’ve experienced an earthquake with a  magnitude 5.6; expectations are for some 7’s to be on the way.)

Now the USGS (US Geological Survey) has released an earthquake hazard map.  This new map series depicts both “natural” and “induced” quakes- but only for the Central and Eastern states, where earthquakes were far less prevalent over the years.  And, if you examine the maps, you will see that fracking has now rendered portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas.and Texas.to be as prone to earthquakes as California.  Except the latter quakes (CA) are natural and the former are directly a function of fracking activity.    Which means 7 million folks have new risks to life and home.

The problem is pretty large- and these maps only address 1 year’s worth of events.  Moreover, like the laxity that let Dominion Power place a nuclear power plant along the only active geological fault in the East, many of the Texas fracking locations are along natural fault lines.   And, the reinjection of fluid is not lubricating the faults- it is actually placing additional pressure on them, driving them apart, rendering them more capable of producing earthquakes.

Maybe this new reality will “induce” our governmental agencies to cut back on fracking in the US.  Or, at the very least, force the fracking companies to put up substantial trust funds to cover the costs for homeowners, cities, and businesses who will have to deal with the “aftermath” of the drilling.

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