Forbes: Should We Freak Out About Fracking-Induced Earthquakes?

After a handful of earthquakes in Mahoning County, most recently on New Year’s Eve, Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources shut down five deep wells used by natural gas drillers to dispose of chemical-laden gunk recovered from natural gas fracking operations. The quakes, biggest of which measured 4 on the Richter scale, coincided with injections into the wells, pretty much ruling out coincidence.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey has found a 10-fold increase in quakes there in recent years (including three magnitude 5s in early November), but has stopped short of blaming them on a rampant increase in gas drilling. A year ago Arkansas declared a moratorium on deep injection wells after a flurry of earth-shaking there (even though similar quake swarms have occurred there in the past). Even in England, the drilling company Cuadrilla Resources says its activities probably caused a couple quakes.   MORE