4.2M earthquake rattles Oklahoma state-wide, Felt also in western Arkansas & Wichita, Kansas, Numerous aftershocks. Mitigation obviously not working. Waste disposal in the Area of Interest had previously been sharply reduced, with no new drilling or fracking

4.2 Magnitude Quake, Aftershocks Rattle Residents Across Oklahoma by Matthew Nuttle, July 14, 2017, News9

LINCOLN COUNTY, Oklahoma – An earthquake centered in Lincoln County jolted residents across Oklahoma, Friday morning.
The 4.2 magnitude temblor was struck at approximately 8:47 a.m., 3.3 miles east southeast of the town of Avery, Oklahoma, or about 54 miles east northeast of the OKC metro, at a depth of five and a half miles.

The initial earthquake was then followed up, so far, by two three-point aftershocks; the first a 3.8 magnitude at 9:04 a.m. and the second a 3.7 magnitude at 9:17 a.m. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the first aftershock seven miles to the northeast of the town of Kendrick, Oklahoma, also in Lincoln County, at a depth of 4.3 miles. The second aftershock was located 3.8 miles east southeast of Avery, at a depth of three miles.

A number of smaller two-point magnitude aftershocks have been triggered all around the epicenter of Friday’s earthquake.

Viewers from all around Oklahoma, some even in Kansas, reported feeling the shaking. So far, however, there have been no reports of damage or injuries reported with this earthquake.

… The Oklahoma Corporation Commission issued the following statement regarding Friday’s earthquakes:

The Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) and the Induced Seismicity Department at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) continue to investigate this morning’s earthquake activity in the Stroud area.

Preliminary data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows 6 events in the area, beginning at 8:47 a.m.

An oil and gas field inspector is in the area as part of the investigation.

The area is within the main earthquake Area of Interest (AOI) where oil and gas wastewater disposal into the Arbuckle formation has been sharply reduced.

There is no new well activity in the area in terms of drilling or hydraulic fracturing.

The OCC is currently reviewing the operations of 8 Arbuckle disposal wells that are within 10 miles of the preliminary epicenters of the events.

OGS reports initial data indicates the first earthquake had a magnitude of 4.2 (+ or – 0.1) at a depth of 9.3 Kilometers (5.77 miles). It occurred in Northeast Lincoln County and is the 3rd 4.0 or greater quake of 2017. By comparison there were 15 4.0 or greater quakes last year and 27 the year before. Including the preliminary data on today’s events, there has been a total of 26 earthquake events of 2.7 or greater in Oklahoma in July thus far, compared to 106 in for all of July 2016 and 169 in for all of July 2015.

Trinity Blood @Saviena34
Replying to @NEWS9
Me and my kids felt it in Chandler pretty strong and the aftershock to. We heard a small boom then the house shook like crazy.
8:49 AM – 14 Jul 2017

Megan @mizbiz13
Wake and shake https://twitter.com/news9/status/885864438498197504 …
8:13 AM – 14 Jul 2017

Sue @Sareena26
Replying to @NEWS9
Just felt an aftershock
8:20 AM – 14 Jul 2017 [Emphasis added]

Earthquakes rumble central Oklahoma, a new seismic hot spot, Scientists have linked oil and gas production to increased earthquakes in the state by The Associated Press, July 14, 2017 3:48 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 14, 2017 3:59 PM ET, CBC News

Related Stories

The U.S. Geological Survey says several earthquakes struck central Oklahoma Friday morning, including one with a preliminary magnitude of 4.2.

State and local emergency management officials said there have been no reports of injury or damage as a result of any of the temblors.

The USGS said the quake hit shortly before 9 a.m. near Stroud, about 88 kilometres northeast of Oklahoma City, and was felt in western Arkansas and Wichita, Kansas.

It was followed within about 75 minutes by five more earthquakes of preliminary magnitudes ranging from 2.7 to 3.8.

The quakes struck within about 16 kilometres of a privately run prison, the Cimarron Correctional Facility.

A woman who answered the phone at the prison declined to comment and a spokesman for the parent company, Nashville, Tenn.–based CoreCivic, did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

The oil and gas connection

Scientists have linked some oil and gas production in Oklahoma to an uptick in earthquakes, but the frequency of such earthquakes in the state had dropped recently as the state imposed new restrictions on the injection of wastewater into underground disposal wells.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s induced seismicity department is working with the Oklahoma Geological Survey to investigate the quakes, says commission spokesman Matt Skinner. But the agency has not issued a directive to shut down any disposal wells in the area, which is part of what is known as the Arbuckle formation.

“Everything is still in the initial stages right now,” Skinner said, “but [shuttering some wells] is a distinct possibility.”

Skinner said there are eight disposal wells within 16 kilometres of the preliminary location of the temblors, and that the Oklahoma Geological Survey will determine the precise epicentres of the quakes.

Not a traditional earthquake zone

An open plain better known for tornados, Oklahoma became an earthquake hot zone around 2011, surpassing California in magnitude 3 or greater earthquakes in 2014.

National Geographic reported that the state typically had three or fewer earthquakes annually prior to 2009, when that number jumped to 20, rising to 579 in 2014 and 903 in 2015.

Cracked walls and crumbling brickwork are now common on the state’s historic buildings [and private homes and commercial buildings]. Famed environmental lawyer Erin Brockovich is supporting the Pawnee Nation in its lawsuit against Eagle Road Oil LLC, Cummings Oil Company, and 25 other oil and gas companies for damages from alleged human-induced quakes. [Emphasis added]

[Think of the cumulative harmful impacts:

2017 06 30: Oklahoma: ‘Frack hits’ on the rise; Frackers Collide With Traditional Oil & Gas Drillers; Hundreds of damaging cases of “involuntary stimulation”

2017 07 10: Sulfide-producing bacteria dominate hydraulically fractured shale oil & gas wells. “An estimated 70% of waterflooded reservoirs world-wide have soured.” ]

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