Earthquake/fracking thoughts (Pittsburgh, Washington, Liberty: live, move, pollution)

[gg]

You know, sometimes I think about that earthquake and then Oklahoma having one that was pretty big and it gets me wondering if there could be any truth that fracking could indeed cause earthquakes. At first I was thinking it was just too silly, but what if fracking does cause some imbalance that can contribute to earthquakes? Obviously no one knows yet if it does, but lets say it does for a moment. I feel fracking would still go on as planed regardless. Money will make people live with a little earth movement I am guessing. I still can't believe I felt the earth move in Pittsburgh. It really was an odd thing. Now Oklahoma having one? Will we have another one? How many will it take before we would even consider fracking being a contributor? 5? 10? 50?

[WestLibertyAve]

Here's some fodder for that theory, out of England

BBC News - Fracking tests near Blackpool 'likely cause' of tremors

[Kippy]

You pose an interesting question. While I don't know much about the subject, I don't think that a correlation sounds too far fetched.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Kippy

Is this statement really necessary? Why not just pose the question and see what kind of replies you get?

Okay, fix your post. I fixed mine.

[Caladium]

Mother Nature seems to be doing oddball things. I'm not sure if it's related to things that humans are doing or if we've simply entered into a time when things will be unexpected and extreme. Who knows if Pittsburgh will ever feel another earthquake, but if it does how would we know if fracking was the reason, or something else? I dunno, I guess I worry about the possible water pollution, but not earthquakes. Then again I'm not a geologist, so what do I know.

[Geeo]

I don't think there's a correlation. I'm no geologist, but I know that almost every part of the world has minor quakes, and most cannot be felt. The bigger ones are near the major faults "the ring of fire," as they call it. The one we felt a couple of months ago was centered near Washington, so it wasn't near any fracking.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Mother Nature seems to be doing oddball things. I'm not sure if it's related to things that humans are doing or if we've simply entered into a time when things will be unexpected and extreme. Who knows if Pittsburgh will ever feel another earthquake, but if it does how would we know if fracking was the reason, or something else? I dunno, I guess I worry about the possible water pollution, but not earthquakes. Then again I'm not a geologist, so what do I know.

One thing that I think about is, would people rather believe it is just nature, or believe it could be our fault. No doubt it would be much easier to just say, ah it is just nature. Global warming I have more of an opinion on than this fracking thing, but I was wondering what people thought about it? There might be something to it. I was born in Pittsburgh and never felt the earth move beneath my feet until a few months ago. Oklahoma is in a similar boat. Both are in fracking areas. I am not sure what to think, but feel I need to keep a very open mind. I don't really want to feel some big quake around here. The last thing we need is to have to rebuild things in our region. We are too busy rebuilding other parts of the world to afford to do that here.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by WestLibertyAve

Here's some fodder for that theory, out of England

Note the conclusion was that the necessary conditions are very rare, and the magnitude would be less than 3.0.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Who knows if Pittsburgh will ever feel another earthquake, but if it does how would we know if fracking was the reason, or something else?

Well, we can at least rule out fracking for that earthquake, since the epicenter was in Virginia where no fracking was going on.

[Craziaskowboi]

I think the earthquakes in Virginia and Oklahoma are simply a coincidence, and not the start of some long-term trend.