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FRACKING QUAKES

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Earthquakes are devastatingly destructive and although not directly caused by climate crisis they are included in the disaster section. Fossil fuel corporations who are responsible for the majority of global warming effects use fracking to extract natural gas trapped in deep underground pockets which induce earthquakes.

 

Fracking causes extremely small earthquakes, but they are almost always too small to be a safety concern. The injection of wastewater and saltwater into the subsurface can cause earthquakes that are large enough to be felt and may cause damage.  

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The largest earthquake induced by fluid injection that has been documented in the scientific literature was the September 23, 2016 earthquake in central Oklahoma. It had a magnitude of 5.8. Four magnitude 5+ earthquakes have occurred in Oklahoma, three of which occurred in 2016. In 2011 a magnitude 5.3 earthquake was induced by fluid injection in the Raton Basin, Colorado. Earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.5 and 5.0 have been induced by fluid injection in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, and Texas.

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Whole Earth Tools warns people where these manmade activities and naturally occurring earthquakes will be a danger to them and how to secure homes and property to withstand greater and more frequents quakes. Check the EARTHEN link.

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