{"id":25924,"date":"2016-01-14T13:09:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T19:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=25924"},"modified":"2016-01-14T13:09:12","modified_gmt":"2016-01-14T19:09:12","slug":"scientists-urge-preparation-and-politicians-rally-response-as-unprecedented-quakes-continue-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/01\/14\/scientists-urge-preparation-and-politicians-rally-response-as-unprecedented-quakes-continue-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Urge Preparation and Politicians Rally Response As \u2018Unprecedented\u2019 Quakes Continue in Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_25927\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25927\" alt=\"Oilfield trucks line up at Overflow Energy's Oakwaood No. 1 disposal well in western Oklahoma.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/01\/20160110-fairview-pics101_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/01\/20160110-fairview-pics101_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/01\/20160110-fairview-pics101_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/01\/20160110-fairview-pics101_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/01\/20160110-fairview-pics101_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oilfield trucks line up at Overflow Energy&#39;s Oakwaood No. 1 disposal well in western Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>A string of widely felt earthquakes is rattling residents and seismologists, who are warning that parts of Oklahoma could be primed for more severe shaking.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/241961129&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more-->More than 5,700 earthquakes shook the state in 2015 \u2014 a record year of seismic activity in Oklahoma. The New Year is off to a shaky start.<\/p><p>The recent earthquake outbreak started with a pair of early-morning quakes near Edmond <a href=\"http:\/\/earthquake.usgs.gov\/earthquakes\/eventpage\/us10004a85#general_summary\">on Dec. 29<\/a>, 2015 and <a href=\"http:\/\/earthquake.usgs.gov\/earthquakes\/eventpage\/us10004aqg#general_summary\">New Year\u2019s Day<\/a>. The 4.3 and 4.2-magnitude temblors woke many residents and knocked out power for thousands. Similarly strong shaking continued the following week in northwestern Oklahoma, near the small town of Fairview.<\/p><p>\u201cThis is definitely unprecedented,\u201d says Daniel McNamara, a research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey\u2019s National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. \u201cI\u2019m freaked out and I don\u2019t even live there. It\u2019s just incredible. Really \u2014 I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p><p>McNamara has authored several peer-reviewed papers that add to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiPqc6k36nKAhWLNT4KHcYZC7EQFggdMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstateimpact.npr.org%2Foklahoma%2F2015%2F05%2F05%2Fstateimpacts-earthquake-research-reading-list%2F&usg=AFQjCNHJbn2bRTvofM37_Pu6wOu8fVC8Og&sig2=jTkPtJ51RBu6lmhK1QZ78w\">a growing list of scientific evidence<\/a> suggesting Oklahoma\u2019s earthquakes are likely linked to the oil industry practice of pumping wastewater from drilling into underground disposal wells.<\/p>\n<h3>Geographic, geologic<\/h3><p>The area that\u2019s shaking near Fairview is more than a hundred miles away from the earthquake activity near Edmond. The two places are far apart geographically, \u201cbut geologically they\u2019re in all the same fault system,\u201d McNamara says.<\/p><p>That fault system is called the Nemaha. The other major, seismically active fault line in Oklahoma is known as the Wilzetta. Both systems have larger, primary faults that splinter out into smaller faults known as splays.<\/p><p>\u201cThink if it like shattered glass,\u201d McNamara says. \u201cThere are faults radiating in all directions.<\/p><p>The Wilzetta system produced Oklahoma&#8217;s largest earthquake on record \u2014 the 5.7-magnitude event that injured two people near the town of Prague in 2011. It\u2019s also responsible for earthquakes near the enormous U.S. oil hub in Cushing. That <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjPucPs3anKAhUCYT4KHTTMDq0QFgggMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2015%2F11%2F30%2F456777184%2Fconfidence-in-oil-hub-security-shaken-by-oklahoma-earthquakes&usg=AFQjCNE6ZOxxh_hFQ7rwpQ5jXzD8FN9HNg&sig2=ZY1SRk5B6LK_AxRfkJAqqQ\">shaking is worrying the energy industry<\/a>, the Department of Homeland Security and McNamara, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXhPSi96nKAhWFLmMKHT35ACcQFggkMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstateimpact.npr.org%2Foklahoma%2F2015%2F10%2F29%2Fu-s-oil-hub-in-oklahoma-on-alert-as-national-security-officials-warn-of-potential-for-damaging-earthquakes%2F&usg=AFQjCNFzsp2-vgdOATuhoHrVPnl69mKw1Q&sig2=Bn0U0X9eClCnZZmpVJ6opw\">who sounded alarms last fall<\/a>. McNamara says researchers have less information about the Nemaha \u2014 especially in northwestern parts of the state.<\/p><p>Oklahoma\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/topic\/earthquakes-2\/\">earthquake boom<\/a> began in 2009, and scientists and state officials have worked for years to piece together detailed maps about fault systems that, previously, weren\u2019t a high priority for many besides oil and gas companies. The energy industry \u2014 which has the bankroll and financial incentive to produce detailed maps and information on underground formations \u2014 has provided data to fill in gaps.<\/p><p>In many cases, earthquakes themselves provide data that is painting a more-complete picture of the faults and rock layers underneath Oklahoma, McNamara says. The recent temblors near Edmond, for example, helped reveal to seismologists a <a href=\"http:\/\/newsok.com\/article\/5470002\">previously unknown<\/a> splay of the Nemaha.<\/p><p>A separate splay of the Nemaha is likely the source of the earthquakes near Fairview, but McNamara says scientists have less information about the faults in northwestern Oklahoma.<\/p><p>\u201cThe earthquakes are occurring off of the known faults, but that\u2019s just an indication that they\u2019re connected at depth and we don\u2019t have enough information,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<h3>Preparation, not prediction<\/h3><p>The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the size of a fault. The bigger the surface area, the bigger the potential quake. Based on the little data that\u2019s available for the faults near Fairview, McNamara thinks a 5.0-magnitude quake is possible. The faults near Edmond are likely large enough to produce a magnitude six.<\/p><p>The Edmond quakes have occurred in \u201cregions that we really get concerned about because you have potential exposure of a fairly populous area,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>To be clear: McNamara is <i>not<\/i> predicting a 6.0-magnitude earthquake will strike Edmond. Nothing is imminent. But the potential <i>is<\/i> there. Forecasting earthquakes is always a huge challenge, and Oklahoma\u2019s seismic boom is even trickier because it appears human activity triggered it.<\/p><p>McNamara says most of what we know comes from natural shaking. It\u2019s still not clear if the same rules apply to earthquakes linked to decades of wastewater injection by oil and gas companies.<\/p><p>[module align=&#8221;right&#8221; width=&#8221;half&#8221; type=&#8221;aside&#8221;]<\/p><p>A townhall-style meeting organized by Republican Rep. Lewis Moore of Edmond will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 in Ballroom A&B at the Nigh Center on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma. The meeting will include presentations from the Oklahoma Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Homebuilders Association.<\/p><p>A capitol hearing organized by Democratic Rep. Richard Morrissette of Oklahoma City will follow from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 15 in Room 412C at the state Capitol. Speakers include Todd Halihan, a hydrogeology professor at Oklahoma State University, Scott Poynter, an Arkansas attorney representing Oklahomans who have filed earthquake-related lawsuits against oil and gas companies, petroleum geologists Bob Jackman and Michael Root and Johnson Bridgwater, director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Sierra Club.<\/p><p>[\/module]<\/p><p>\u201cMost of the system is now in a critically stressed state and all you need to do is add slight stress changes in areas and you get \u2014 earthquake,\u201d McNamara says.<\/p><p>The stress changes could come from other disposal wells. Or natural events. McNamara says there is some preliminary evidence to back theories that one vulnerable fault slipped <a href=\"http:\/\/okcfox.com\/news\/oklahoma-earthquakes\/usgs-geophysicist-edmond-fault-could-produce-large-earthquake\">under the pressure of a lake<\/a> that rapidly filled from stormwater.<\/p><p>\u201cAgain, we\u2019re not trying to say wastewater disposal is not a factor here,\u201d McNamara says.<\/p>\n<h3>Responding and rallying<\/h3><p>The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is regularly directing oil companies to shut down or reduce activity at disposal wells in shaky regions \u2014 including areas near Fairview and Edmond.<\/p><p>McNamara says those efforts have reduced seismic activity in some spots. Still, the earthquake problem seems a long way from being solved.<\/p><p>\u201cI just think that residents of Oklahoma really need to think about being prepared for strong shaking,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>Oklahoma lawmakers seem more prepared than ever to take on the earthquake problem and its politically complicated connection to the state\u2019s most economically vital industry. The 2016 legislative session starts in February, and both political parties have organized big, public earthquake meetings.<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A string of widely felt earthquakes is rattling residents and seismologists, who are warning that parts of Oklahoma could be primed for more severe shaking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[489,500,238],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25924"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25935,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25924\/revisions\/25935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}