Earthquakes in Dallas; Could it be Fracking

Diagram explaining fracking.

Usa.gov

Diagram explaining fracking.

by Gigi Allen, Staff Writer

Rumbling and shaking is what woke up the citizens of Dallas on Tuesday, January 6th. Nine earthquakes ranging in size from 1.6 to 3.6 lasted through the day until Wednesday for about 30 hours of tremors and quakes.

Scientists believe that these rare occurring Texas earthquakes may have been caused by fracking, a method used by oil and gas industries to shoot highly pressurized water into the ground aiming for the rock that the gas is contained in. According to National Geographic fracking and injection wells, which are devices that shoot water into stones like limestone, are a plausible cause for the earthquakes. Studies have been published that link fracking to earthquakes such as a new study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, which links fracking to 77 other small earthquakes.

Scientists may not know whether or not the fracking was the cause of the earthquakes but the links between the earthquakes and the Oil and gas industries are very high; however in a year or so, scientists may have the data they need to prove that this earthquake was caused by fracking.  It is hard to prove if the earthquakes are caused by fracking because science is a numbers game, one can only conclude accurate data when there is more then one incident to pull from. The scientists will have to carefully analyse the data from this earthquake and will have to compare it to other earthquakes where fracking has been proven to be the cause. Till then, linking the Earthquakes to fracking is an educated guess.

Of course Dallas is not the only place hit by fracking, over 2,500 minor earthquakes in Oklahoma have been linked into fracking. These earthquakes are supposedly caused by shooting waste water back into a well that has already been fracked. The earthquakes have been linked to four fracking wells. There is also a study linking fracking to an earthquake in Youngstown, Ohio. The studies are out there linking fracking to the cause of earthquakes.

Citizens in Dallas are concerned about fracking in their city, but are thankful that at least this time, no one was seriously injured.