Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
Wed Jun 12, 2019, 08:17 PM Jun 2019

Catalog of Texas Earthquakes Confirms Effects of Wastewater Disposal

https://www.seismosoc.org/news/catalog-of-texas-earthquakes-confirms-effects-of-wastewater-disposal/
Catalog of Texas Earthquakes Confirms Effects of Wastewater Disposal
Published on 11 June 2019 | BSSA, Journals, News

11 June 2019–A comprehensive catalog of earthquake sequences in Texas’s Fort Worth Basin, from 2008 to 2018, provides a closer look at how wastewater disposal from oil and gas exploration has changed the seismic landscape in the basin.

In their report published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Louis Quinones and Heather DeShon of Southern Methodist University and colleagues confirm that seismicity rates in the basin have decreased since 2014, a trend that appears to correspond with a decrease in wastewater injection.

However, their analysis also notes that new faults have become active during this period, and that seismicity continues at a greater distance from injection wells over time, suggesting that “far-field” changes in seismic stress will be important for understanding the basin’s future earthquake hazard potential.

“One thing we have come to appreciate is how broadly injection in the basin has modified stress within entire basin,” said DeShon.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1785/0120190057
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Environment & Energy»Catalog of Texas Earthqua...