Oklahoma, once considered a region with little earthquake activity, is now “one of the most seismic places on the planet,” according to a Time magazine report.
In 2015 alone, the state recorded 907 earthquakes that were 3-magnitude or greater—in comparison, Oklahoma only experienced one such earthquake in 2007.
Scientists posited that the increase in Oklahoma’s seismic activity is related to the oil and gas industry’s practice of re-injecting wastewater (a byproduct of the drilling process) back into the earth via disposal wells. Time.com stated that approximately 3 billion barrels of wastewater were pumped back into the earth in 2015, increasing pressure on the state’s fault lines and triggering tremors in the western and central portions of Oklahoma.
In recent years, homes in and around the state have sustained tremor-related damage, property values have dwindled, and quake insurance interest has increased.
The federal government, critics say, has been slow to respond to the issue. The officials are supposedly “too reliant on the industry to take any meaningful steps,” to press oil and gas companies to dial down their activities, especially in light of oil’s significant price drop.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has reported that wastewater disposal activity has decreased in the last several months, but that has not stopped citizens from worrying about the next big tremor. Even more worrying is the effect of returning wastewater back into the earth, whose side effects are only being studied now. A number of seismologists say that even if all disposal activity is stopped, the tremors could still manifest for years to come.
