By Coyt Wisdom
Reporter
Oklahoma is known for its severe weather and sports, and now the state has become known for earthquakes. However, what has been causing so many earthquakes in the sooner state in recent years?
Dr. Jacob Walter, state seismologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the University of Oklahoma attributes wastewater disposal as one of the reasons why there has been a rising number of earthquakes in Oklahoma.
“The scientific community understands wastewater disposal is responsible for a lot of the earthquake activity within the last decade,” Walter said.
Wastewater disposal can be linked to the oil and gas industry. Wastewater is usually excess salt water and it is not hydrocarbon. That prevents oil and gas companies from selling it on the market.
According to Walter, the wastewater is pumped underground into wastewater disposal wells.
However, wastewater disposal is only part of the cause. Fracking has also been associated with earthquakes in Oklahoma.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, fracking is the process of injecting high-pressure liquid into the ground or rocks in order to help extract oil.
“They put it at a very high pressure to crack open the rock,” said Walter “You are basically taking any natural stresses and fractures in the rock and you are opening them up.”
According to Walter, the number of earthquakes began to increase in 2013. However, the number has since declined.