Oklahoma wasn’t always earthquake country. Before 2008, the state had only one or two quakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or above each year. Then the boom in advanced oil and gas recovery hit. In 2016, Oklahoma recorded 623 quakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater—more than the combined number in shake-prone California and Nevada.
This rapid increase in earthquake activity has been linked to oilfield wastewater injection wells and the fracking cycle. The new technology delivered nine barrels of water for every barrel of oil, and the cheapest way to dispose of those millions of gallons was to inject them deep into the earth. The pressure and lubrication of the water unclamped long-dormant faults, and the result was earthquakes. Lots of them.
While Oklahoma communities have been dealing with the effects and high costs associated with the increased earthquakes, the oil and gas industry has been making profits despite the damage they’ve caused. Demand that Oklahoma attorney general Mike Hunter holds oil and gas companies accountable for the earthquake damages.