earthquakes

USGS links rise in earthquakes to oil & gas wastewater disposal

April 30, 2015 By admin in Environmental Justice, Featured Homepage Items Tags: earthquakes, fracking, oil & gas drilling, wastewater injection

U.S. government scientists have identified 17 areas in eight states that have seen an increase in earthquakes triggered by human practices.

Earthquake activity in the central and eastern United States has increased significantly since 2009 and this has been linked to the disposal of oil and gas wastewater by injecting it into deep wells.

The new report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers a comprehensive assessment of the hazard levels associated with induced earthquakes in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.

16 US states at High Earthquake Risk

September 23, 2014 By admin in Featured Homepage Items Tags: earthquakes, east coast, environmental issues, USGS

Updates to the recent US geological survey show that certain areas face a higher threat of earthquakes than previously thought.

“USGS earthquake science is vital because you can’t plan for earthquakes if you don’t know what you are planning for,” said Mark Petersen, chief of the USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project, in a statement. “Our nation’s population and exposure to large earthquakes has grown tremendously in recent years. The cost of inaction in planning for future earthquakes and other natural disasters can be very high, as demonstrated by several recent damaging events across the globe.