Shaking Up The Fracking Debate

Abstract

Earthquakes near hydraulic fracturing and waste-fluid injection wells in the central U.S. may be being triggered by massive earthquakes thousands of miles away, according to a new study (Science 2013, DOI: 10.1126/science.1238948). The study notes the recent rise in the U.S. of small to midsized earthquakes. It points to a relationship between that rise and the increased deep underground injection of large amounts of water and wastewater for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas and oil. The researchers looked at past earthquake recordings near three U.S. hydraulic fracturing injection sites. They found that pressure in faults at these sites was already approaching critical levels when major earthquakes occurred far away. The distant earthquakes triggered a rise in frequency and intensity of local tremors, the scientists report. “The injected fluids are driving the faults to their tipping point,” explains lead author Nicholas J. van der Elst, a researcher at Columbia ...