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WHAT’S SHAKIN’? New year holds potential for stronger earthquakes in Oklahoma
O
BRYCE MCELHANEY • @BRYCE_MAC
klahoma earthquakes could shake things up even more this year with larger magnitudes than in previous years. Calculations show there is a high probability there will be a 5.0 magnitude quake in 2016, Oklahoma Geological Survey Director Jeremy Boak said. Boak said there have been over 70 earthquakes above a 3.0 magnitude and seven quakes over a 4.0 this year already. The largest quake was a 4.8 magnitude, located northwest of Fairview on Jan. 7, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Although there has been an increase in earthquake activity, most of the quakes have been small, Boak said. “People who are talking about us being the earthquake capital of the U.S. need to specify that we’re the small earthquake capital of the U.S,” he said. Recent earthquake activity in Edmond led citizens to demanding answers in a town hall meeting at the UCO Nigh University Center on Jan. 14. Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Edmond, who organized the event, started the conversation by showing a presentation, which read
SHAKIEST COUNTIES
the counties with the greatest number of earthquakes in 2015 1. Grant: 1518 2. Logan: 831 3. Alfalfa: 691 4. Noble: 639 5. Garfield: 540 6. Payne: 458 7. Woodward: 224 8. Pawnee: 186 9. Woods: 173 10. Oklahoma: 149
2016’s biggest earthquakes WOODS
BY THE NUMBERS So far in 2016, the Oklahoma Geological Survey reports:
95 177
earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater recorded total earthquakes recorded, from magnitude 2.4 to 4.8
In all of 2015:
907 5773
GRANT
Jan. 22 • 3.7
Jan. 7 • 4.8 Jan. 7 • 4.7 Jan. 7 • 4.3 Jan. 6 • 4.0 Jan. 7 • 4.0 Jan. 8 • 4.0 Jan. 6 • 3.9 Jan. 7 • 3.8 Jan. 7 • 3.8 Jan. 19 • 3.8 Jan. 7 • 3.7 Jan. 6 • 3.6 Jan. 7 • 3.6 Jan. 7 • 3.6
PAYNE
MAJOR
Jan. 15 • 3.6
Jan. 18 • 3.7
OKLAHOMA Jan. 1 • 4.2
LOGAN
Jan. 2 • 3.7 Jan. 20 • 3.6
earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater recorded total earthquakes recorded, from magnitude 0.47 to 4.7 Source: Oklahoma Geological Survey
“fracking does not cause most of the induced earthquakes — waste water disposal is the primary cause of recent earthquakes in central United States.” Moore said Oklahomans have come a long way in understanding the issue, though earthquake activity has dramatically increased. “This information is fairly accepted today; three years ago, we would have thought we were crazy for thinking this,” Moore said. He said not all wastewater injection wells induce earthquakes. Oklahoma Geological Survey Hydrogeologist Kyle Murray said there could be a good correlation between disposal well locations, fault lines and earthquake patterns. “I would say the frequency of earthquakes allows us to identify faults we didn’t previously map,” Murray said. “If you look at a sequence of earthquakes in an area, sometimes they show a very linear trend, and that would indicate that there’s a fault in the subsurface, and we maybe haven’t mapped it before.” Moore said Edmond is home to one of these faults, which is called the Edmond fault. “(It) runs around I-35 and
Route 66 on out and curves back to the north for about two or three miles,” he said. Edmond resident Kathy Mathews said she’s only experienced small cracks in her house so far.
“People who are talking about us being the earthquake capital of the U.S. need to specify that we’re the small earthquake capital of the U.S.” JEREMY BOAK, OKLAHOMA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIRECTOR
“I want you to know that although fracking may not cause earthquakes, you cannot frack without producing this dirty water,” Mathews said. Moore said as far back as three years ago, there were House members considering disposal wells being the cause of earthquakes. Mathews said this is an issue that would turn a red state blue. “There’s no lack of conversation — there’s a lack of introducing
bills to address the problem,” she said. E d m o n d re s i d e n t R o b e r t Downey said he has experienced earthquakes recently. “I could probably easily prove there’s a direct correlation between injection pressure and seismic activity, because I’ve done it in fracturing, I’ve published the papers,” Downey said. “The relationships are the same. The processes are the same; it’s just the scale is bigger, and the impact is potentially going to be huge.” One frack job is about a day’s worth of watering a golf course, Boak said. Murray said there are around 4,200 disposal wells in Oklahoma, but only about 3,600 are being actively used. The volumes of salt water coming from oil wells have increased significantly in the last two years, he said. “I’ve been cataloging the 2009 to the 2014 period and the volume went from about 800 million barrels in 2009 to 1.5 billion barrels — they’ve almost doubled it in six years,” Murray said. He said he hypothesizes that Oklahoma could see a decline in seismic activity if disposal wells were used less, though there
would be a lag time — about six months to two years before a significant decline could be noticed. Bryce McElhaney
btmcelhaney@gmail.com
QUAKE LINGO Fracking: short for “hydraulic fracturing,” it’s the process of injecting liquid into the earth to free up petroleum resources like oil and gas Injection well: a device that places liquid deep underground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone or limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer Wastewater: also called “produced water,” is the liquid that returns to the surface after the fracking process Source: Merriam-Webster, cleanwateraction.org
Future architects anticipate earthquakes 6000
Director stresses value on structural security
Earthquakes in Oklahoma from 2010 to 2015
JESSE POUND
Total number of earthquakes recorded
5000
@jesserpound
Number of earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0
4000
Data from the Oklahoma Geological Survey
3000
2000
1000
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
As earthquakes rattle and shake Oklahoma homes and businesses at a quickly increasing rate, professors from OU’s College of Architecture say the school is producing graduates prepared for the new environment. Hans E. Butzer, the academic director of the college’s division of architecture, said the school is already preparing students for the new challenges produced by the local environment through a group of core classes that focus more on the study of structures than other architecture programs. The National Architectural Accrediting Board has general requirements for what students must learn about structures, but there’s a lot of wiggle room for colleges to craft their own academic paths, Butzer said. Some programs only feature one or two structures courses, Butzer said, while OU’s core contains three. Butzer said that Oklahoma’s tendency for tornadic activity and, historically, earthquakes
made the structures emphasis vital. “An earthquake doesn’t kill people, but buildings do,” said Shideh Shadravan, an assistant professor at the college. “It behooves us to have a robust structures sequence. We view it as an ethical obligation, just based on where we are geographically, climatically,” Butzer said.
“An earthquake doesn’t kill people, but buildings do.” SHIDEH SHADRAVAN, ARCHITECTURE PROFESSOR
Even before the recent growth of earthquakes linked to wastewater disposal wells, part of Oklahoma was designated as a Zone 2 of seismic activity. Butzer also cited the New Madr id, Missouri, earthquake in the early 1800s, which, according to a mixture of legend and fact, was felt as far away as the East Coast and made the Mississippi River run backward. “That’s the most see ARCHITECTURE page 2