UNWANTED ATTENTION

March 15, 2017

OCEAN 35

On September 3, 2016, Oklahoma (where they never had Earthquakes), experienced an Earthquake so strong it was felt from Texas to Nebraska. Quake activity has been linked to the use of “Fracking” to extract oil and gas. Fracking is the common term for the extraction of underground natural gas and oil using high-pressure water mixtures that are pumped underground. Headlines in social media posts about other effects of fracking are becoming well known and the backlash from concern citizens is growing. Due to the recent development of fracking, the short-term and particularly the long-term affects on nature and our environment are not fully understood. This practice

has increased in North America over the last 15 years due to the increase in plentiful, cheap domestic energy and despite substantial environmental concerns. OCEAN 31 touched upon some of the recent issues revolving around fracking with the article, “What’s Shaking in Oklahoma?”.

Recently, parts of Oklahoma have become tied with Northern California as the most earthquake prone areas in United States of America. A 5.6 magnitude earthquake occurred in the early morning of September 3rd in north-central Oklahoma with five aftershocks, ranging from 3.6 to 2.7 in the resulting hour. Due to the increase in such events as well as the possibly catastrophic aftereffects, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission began asking wastewater-well owners to decrease disposal since 2013 in an attempt to remedy the possibly causational effects of wastewater injections on seismic activity. The results of fracking can be seen throughout Oklahoma and Kansas and drastic action is needed to regulate fracking and decrease its effects.