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National Geographic Article Highlights Human Causes Of Earthquakes

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The uptick in seismic activity in Oklahoma is featured in an Oct. 2  National Geographic article that takes a look at the increase in earthquakes induced by such human activities as fracking.

According to the article, a recent study published in the journal Seismological Research Letters identified 730 sites where human activity caused earthquakes over the past 150 years.

In the study, the authors found 29 project sites where earthquakes were induced by fracking itself, 36 sites where quakes were induced by post-fracking wastewater disposal, and 12 sites where quakes were induced by unspecific oil and gas wastewater disposal. 

Miles Wilson, a University of Durham geophysicist who collected the study’s data, compiled records of human induced-earthquakes going back 150 years that is available at the website, inducedearthquakes.org, which tracks the number of human-induced seismic activity and allows visitors to search quakes by date or region.