Does the production of oil and gas from shales cause earthquakes? If so, how are the earthquakes related to these operations?
To produce oil and gas from shale formations, it is necessary to increase the interconnectedness of the pore space (permeability) of the shale so that the gas can flow through the rock mass and be extracted through production wells. This is usually done by hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"). Fracking intentionally causes small earthquakes (magnitudes smaller than 1) to enhance permeability, but it has also been linked to larger earthquakes. The largest earthquake known to be induced by hydraulic fracturing in the United States was a M4 earthquake in Texas. In addition to natural gas, fracking fluids and saltwater trapped in the same formation as the gas are returned to the surface. These wastewaters are frequently disposed of by injection into deep wells. The injection of wastewater and saltwater into the subsurface can also cause earthquakes that are large enough to be damaging. . Wastewater disposal is a separate process in which fluid waste from oil and gas production is injected deep underground far below ground water or drinking water aquifers. The largest earthquake known to be induced by wastewater disposal was a M5.8 earthquake that occurred near Pawnee, Oklahoma in 2016.
Learn more: USGS Induced Earthquakes
Related Content
Oklahoma has had a surge of earthquakes since 2009. Are they due to fracking?
Bar graph showing the...
How large are the earthquakes induced by fluid injection?
Are earthquakes induced by fluid-injection activities always located close to the point of injection?
Is there any possibility that a wastewater injection activity could interact with a nearby fault to trigger a major earthquake that causes extensive damage over a broad region?
How does the injection of fluid at depth cause earthquakes?
Is it possible to anticipate whether a planned wastewater disposal activity will trigger earthquakes that are large enough to be of concern?
Do all wastewater disposal wells induce earthquakes?
The 2013–2016 induced earthquakes in Harper and Sumner Counties, southern Kansas
We examine the first four years (2013–2016) of the ongoing seismicity in southern Kansas using high‐precision locations derived from a local seismometer network. The earthquakes occur almost exclusively in the shallow crystalline basement, below the wastewater injection horizon of the Arbuckle Group at the base of the sedimentary section. Multiple...
Rubinstein, Justin L.; Ellsworth, William L.; Dougherty, Sara L. Was the Mw 7.5 1952 Kern County, California, earthquake induced (or triggered)?
Several recent studies have presented evidence that significant induced earthquakes occurred in a number of oil-producing regions during the early and mid-twentieth century related to either production or wastewater injection. We consider whether the 21 July 1952 Mw 7.5 Kern County earthquake might have been induced by production in the...
Hough, Susan E.; Tsai, Victor C.; Walker, Robert; Aminzadeh, Fred Potentially induced earthquakes during the early twentieth century in the Los Angeles Basin
Recent studies have presented evidence that early to mid‐twentieth‐century earthquakes in Oklahoma and Texas were likely induced by fossil fuel production and/or injection of wastewater (Hough and Page, 2015; Frohlich et al., 2016). Considering seismicity from 1935 onward, Hauksson et al. (2015) concluded...
Hough, Susan E.; Page, Morgan T. Myths and facts on wastewater injection, hydraulic fracturing, enhanced oil recovery, and induced seismicity
The central United States has undergone a dramatic increase in seismicity over the past 6 years (Fig. 1), rising from an average of 24 M≥3 earthquakes per year in the years 1973–2008 to an average of 193 M≥3 earthquakes in 2009–2014, with 688 occurring in 2014 alone. Multiple damaging earthquakes have occurred during this...
Rubinstein, Justin L.; Mahani, Alireza Babaie Shaking from injection-induced earthquakes in the central and eastern United States
In this study I consider the ground motions generated by 11 moderate (Mw4.0-5.6) earthquakes in the central and eastern United States that are thought or suspected to be induced by fluid injection. Using spatially rich intensity data from the USGS “Did You Feel It?” system, I show that the distance decay of intensities for all events is...
Hough, Susan E. Potentially induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, USA: links between wastewater injection and the 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake sequence
Significant earthquakes are increasingly occurring within the continental interior of the United States, including five of moment magnitude (Mw) ≥ 5.0 in 2011 alone. Concurrently, the volume of fluid injected into the subsurface related to the production of unconventional resources continues to rise. Here we identify the largest earthquake...
Keranen, Katie M.; Savage, Heather M.; Abers, Geoffrey A.; Cochran, Elizabeth S. Passive seismic monitoring of natural and induced earthquakes: case studies, future directions and socio-economic relevance
An important discovery in crustal mechanics has been that the Earth’s crust is commonly stressed close to failure, even in tectonically quiet areas. As a result, small natural or man-made perturbations to the local stress field may trigger earthquakes. To understand these processes, Passive Seismic Monitoring (PSM) with seismometer arrays is...
Cloetingh, Sierd; Negendank, Jörg; Bohnhoff, Marco; Dresen, Georg; Ellsworth, William L.; Ito, Hisao
Wastewater Disposal Likely Induced February 2016 Magnitude 5.1 Oklahoma Earthquake
Distant wastewater disposal wells likely induced the third largest earthquake in recent Oklahoma record, the Feb. 13, 2016, magnitude 5.1 event roughly 32 kilometers northwest of Fairview, Oklahoma. These findings from the U.S. Geological Survey are available in the online edition of Geophysical Research Letters.
Evidence of Unconventional Oil and Gas Wastewater Found in Surface Waters near Underground Injection Site
These are the first published studies to demonstrate water-quality impacts to a surface stream due to activities at an unconventional oil and gas wastewater deep well injection disposal site.
EarthWord – Induced Seismicity
The occurrence or frequency of earthquakes for which the origin is attributable to human activities.
Induced Earthquakes Raise Chances of Damaging Shaking in 2016
For the first time, new USGS maps identify the potential for ground shaking from both human-induced and natural earthquakes in 2016.
A Century of Induced Earthquakes in Oklahoma?
The rate of earthquakes has increased sharply since 2009 in the central and eastern United States, with growing evidence confirming that these earthquakes are primarily caused by human activity, namely the injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells.
Coping with Earthquakes Induced by Fluid Injection
MENLO PARK, Calif.— A paper published today in Science provides a case for increasing transparency and data collection to enable strategies for mitigating the effects of human-induced earthquakes caused by wastewater injection associated with oil and gas production in the United States.
2011 Oklahoma Induced Earthquake May Have Triggered Larger Quake
In a new study involving researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, scientists observed that a human-induced magnitude 5.0 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma in November 2011 may have triggered the larger M5.7 earthquake less than a day later.
PubTalk 5/2018 — Yes Humans really are causing induced earthquakes
Title: Yes, Humans Really Are Causing Earthquakes! How Energy Industry Practices are Causing Earthquakes in America's Heartland
- In every year since 2014, Oklahoma has had more earthquakes than California.
- Oil and gas operations are "inducing" these earthquakes.
- The earthquake rate has dropped by more than 50 percent due to changes in industry
Damage in Cushing, Oklahoma from the Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake in 2016
Damage to buildings in Cushing, Oklahoma from the magnitude 5.0 earthquake on November 6, 2016. Unreinforced brick and stone masonry buildings and facades are vulnerable to strong shaking. Photograph credit: Dolan Paris, USGS
Damage in Cushing, Oklahoma from the Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake in 2016
Damage to buildings in Cushing, Oklahoma from the magnitude 5.0 earthquake on November 6, 2016. Unreinforced brick and stone masonry buildings and facades are vulnerable to strong shaking. Photograph credit: Dolan Paris, USGS
Damage in central Oklahoma from a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in 2011
House damage in central Oklahoma from the magnitude 5.6 earthquake on Nov. 6, 2011. Research conducted by USGS geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran and her university-based colleagues suggests that this earthquake was induced by injection into deep disposal wells in the Wilzetta North field. Credit: Brian Sherrod, USGS
Natural Gas Production Water Impoundment
A water impoundment at a natural gas drilling site in the Marcellus Shale gas play of southwestern Pennsylvania.
Natural Gas Flare Stack
A flare stack to burn excess natural gas at a natural gas drill site in the Marcellus Shale gas play of western Pennsylvania.
Natural Gas Flare
A natural gas flare. Sometimes, often due to lack of transportation or storage capacity, natural gas that is co-produced with oil will be burned in a flare. This wellpad is in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.
Bakken Oil Well
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.