Oklahoma’s Earthquake ‘Swarm’ in One Chart

• Joe Wertz
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

EQ Charts

Magnitude 2.0 and greater Oklahoma earthquakes from 1990-2014.

EQ Charts has created a really great visual of Oklahoma’s earthquake “swarm.” The chart was built with data from the U.S. Geological Survey, and shows quakes of 2.0-magnitude or greater.

Most people can feel earthquakes that are 3.0-magnitude or greater. Earthquakes have increased exponentially in Oklahoma, a phenomenon federal and university seismologists have linked to disposal wells used by the oil and gas industry.

The Sooner State has been seismically active historically, but Central Oklahoma’s 2009-2014 earthquake “swarm” is unusual because, as USGS seismologist Bill Leith writes, the quakes don’t seem “to be due to typical, random fluctuations in natural seismicity rates.”