Is fracking to blame for Oklahoma’s earthquakes?
By MANUEL BOJORQUEZ CBS NEWS
Since late 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey found Oklahoma has had 300 times more earthquakes than in previous decades. The latest study says 300 million-year-old fault lines have been reactivated and are capable of producing a magnitude-6.0 quake.
A 2014 study posted online in “Science” connected thousands of small earthquakes to oil and gas production. The study linked the increase in seismic activity to the process of pumping highly pressurized waste-water into the ground — a byproduct of fracking.
Kim Hatfield, with the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, says the science to prove a definitive link simply isn’t there.
“Coincidence is not correlation,” said Hatfield. “This area has been seismically active over eons and the fact that this is unprecedented in our experience doesn’t necessarily mean it hasn’t happened before.”
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