Earthquakes from Fracking

[Bible_Belt]

I live near the New Madrid fault. The last time it had a biq quake was 1812: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811–12_New_Madrid_earthquakes

If a similar quake as the 1811-12 events happened today, every brick building in the nearby cities, which are largely brick, is going to collapse. Those cities include St Louis, Nashville, Memphis, and maybe even Louisville and Indianapolis. Quake tremors in this area travel a long way. The 1812 quake cause minor damage as far away as Boston. The death toll today would be anybody's guess. Besides the danger of falling brick, the quake could re-route rivers, washing entire towns away. I think a million people could die in one afternoon.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/3158700...increases-especially-in-oklahoma?sf23309724=1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal scientists say the chance of damaging earthquakes hitting east of the Rockies has increased significantly, much of it a man-made byproduct of drilling for energy. Oklahoma now has a 1 in 8 chance of damaging quakes in 2016, surpassing California as the state with the highest probability.

In a first-of-its-kind effort, U.S. Geological Survey Monday released a map for damaging quakes in the current year.

USGS seismologists said 7 million people live in areas where the risk has dramatically jumped for earthquakes caused by disposal of wastewater, a byproduct of drilling for oil and gas. That is mostly concentrated in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado and Arkansas.

Natural earthquake risk also increased around the New Madrid fault in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Illinois.

 

[BeExcellent]

The US Geological Survey tracks earthquakes in real time. You can check earthquake activity there anytime. Oklahoma is presently the most seismically active spot in the world with some quakes over 4 on occasion on the Richter scale. Crescent, OK just had a 4.2 one this evening. It is considered a direct result of the fracking activity. It's fairly common knowledge at the locales affected.

I've been jarred awake in Oklahoma City on the 4th floor of a hotel room by the jerking & swaying of one of those quakes, centered near Guthrie, OK within the last two years or so. It's a scary helpless sensation.

The New Madrid fault is pretty active anyway and always has been. The Wikipedia information on it is pretty interesting and worth reading. The fault is active and considered a serious major earthquake threat. I'm about 200 miles from there as the crow flies and seismic waves really travel through the soil. There was a 4+ on the Richter scale about 5 years ago, maybe 6, and the house next door sustained structural damage to its porch and basement when that happened.

If the fault really goes it will be a disaster unlike anything we have seen in the US.

 

[logicallefty]

@BeExcellent I did not know that about Oaklahoma. I just found the USGS map. Pretty interesting.

@Bible_Belt do you get much minor activity in your area? I'm about 5 hours NE of the New Madrid Fault and about 2 hours SW of downtown Chicago. I've felt a couple different earthquakes in this area. One in 1987 and one in 2008. The one in 2008 actually knocked a few things over in my house but no damage. I always think of California when it comes to big quakes but yeah I guess here in Illinois we aren't immune to a big one some day.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I don't think I've ever felt an earthquake, honestly. My grandpa told me about one he experienced when he was younger. He was outside working, and he said he could hear it coming through the trees. The shaking was advancing like flowing water. So apparently, you can hear these New Madrid quakes coming. It's the way our ground shakes. I think it's a lot different from California.