
The 5.6 magnitude earthquake that rattled Pawnee, Oklahoma Saturday morning has been classified as largest in state history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The September 3, 2016 Oklahoma earthquake occurred as the result of shallow strike-slip faulting about 15 kilometers northwest of the town of Pawnee.USGS
Earlier reports had matched the Labor day weekend temblor with the November 2011 Prague quake. However, USGS geophysicist Daniel McNamara confirmed to KOCO on Monday that the Pawnee earthquake was about 10 percent larger, even though it fell within the same 5.6 magnitude range.
The Midwestern state is not previously known for seismic activity, however the disposal of wastewater produced from fracking has led to the region's alarming increase in magnitude-3 or larger earthquakes in recent years. Scientists have dubbed this phenomenon as "induced earthquakes" as they are triggered by human activities as opposed to "natural" seismicity.
The USGS is currently investigating whether or not Saturday's earthquake—which occurred 25 miles north of the world's largest oil-storage complex in Cushing, Oklahoma—was triggered by wastewater fluid injection from oil and gas production in the area.
If the Sept. 3 quake was indeed triggered by wastewater injection, Oklahoma will set the record for the largest manmade earthquake in history. This dubious record is currently held by British Columbia, Canada, which felt a 4.6-magnitude last year due to fluid injection from the fracking process.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for Pawnee County following the quake that was felt from Nebraska to Texas. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), the state agency tasked with regulating the oil and gas industry, also immediately shut down all disposal wells within a 725-square mile in the Arbuckle shale formation. Commission spokesman Matt Skinner told Bloomberg that this is the first time the regulator issued the mandatory measure.
5.6 Magnitude #Earthquake Hits #Oklahoma, Felt in 5 States https://t.co/p6MnOIC4ov @sierraclub @MarkRuffalo @joshfoxfilm @FrackAction @350— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)1472939474.0
According to KOCO, the Oklahoma Geological Survey said on Monday that the Pawnee quake could have been years in the making, adding that earthquakes can happen years after wastewater is disposed into the ground. Ominously, this implies that wastewater that has already been pumped into the ground could trigger future quakes.
It's important to note that the OCC did not shut down every well in the state. Oklahoma is currently home to 3,200 active disposal wells, according to data from the OCC.
In March, the USGS released a startling report showing that approximately 7 million people live and work in areas of the central and eastern U.S. with potential for damaging shaking from induced seismicity. There are roughly 40,000 disposal wells nationwide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says.
Environmentalists have called on a ban on fracking due to the recent spate of Oklahoma earthquakes.
"The 5.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Oklahoma and was felt throughout the Midwest this morning threatened countless homes and businesses, and put lives at risk," Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch, said.
"But it could have been prevented. This earthquake, and hundreds of others like it over the last few years, are the direct result of the underground disposal of fracking wastewater. There can't be fracking without disposing of fracking waste, and there is no safe way to do so. This is just one of many reasons why fracking is inherently dangerous and must be banned."
Earlier this year, the Sierra Club and Public Justice filed suit against four of the primary culprits for wastewater disposal, citing that it causes an "imminent and substantial endangerment" to public health and the environment in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
- Redwoods are the world's tallest trees.
- Now scientists have discovered they are even bigger than we thought.
- Using laser technology they map the 80-meter giants.
- Trees are a key plank in the fight against climate change.
They are among the largest trees in the world, descendants of forests where dinosaurs roamed.
Pixabay / Simi Luft
<p><span>Until recently, measuring these trees meant scaling their 80 meter high trunks with a tape measure. Now, a team of scientists from University College London and the University of Maryland uses advanced laser scanning, to create 3D maps and calculate the total mass.</span></p><p>The results are striking: suggesting the trees <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">may be as much as 30% larger than earlier measurements suggested.</a> Part of that could be due to the additional trunks the Redwoods can grow as they age, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a process known as reiteration</a>.</p>New 3D measurements of large redwood trees for biomass and structure. Nature / UCL
<p>Measuring the trees more accurately is important because carbon capture will probably play a key role in the battle against climate change. Forest <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/carbon-sequestration-natural-forest-regrowth" target="_blank">growth could absorb billions of tons</a> of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.</p><p>"The importance of big trees is widely-recognised in terms of carbon storage, demographics and impact on their surrounding ecosystems," the authors wrote<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank"> in the journal Nature</a>. "Unfortunately the importance of big trees is in direct proportion to the difficulty of measuring them."</p><p>Redwoods are so long lived because of their ability to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cope with climate change, resist disease and even survive fire damage</a>, the scientists say. Almost a fifth of their volume may be bark, which helps protect them.</p>Carbon Capture Champions
<p><span>Earlier research by scientists at Humboldt University and the University of Washington found that </span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112716302584" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Redwood forests store almost 2,600 tonnes of carbon per hectare</a><span>, their bark alone containing more carbon than any other neighboring species.</span></p><p>While the importance of trees in fighting climate change is widely accepted, not all species enjoy the same protection as California's coastal Redwoods. In 2019 the world lost the equivalent of <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30 soccer fields of forest cover every minute</a>, due to agricultural expansion, logging and fires, according to The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).</p>Pixabay
<p>Although <a href="https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1420/files/original/Deforestation_fronts_-_drivers_and_responses_in_a_changing_world_-_full_report_%281%29.pdf?1610810475" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the rate of loss is reported to have slowed in recent years</a>, reforesting the world to help stem climate change is a massive task.</p><p><span>That's why the World Economic Forum launched the Trillion Trees Challenge (</span><a href="https://www.1t.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1t.org</a><span>) and is engaging organizations and individuals across the globe through its </span><a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o00000vOf09AAC/trillion-trees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Uplink innovation crowdsourcing platform</a><span> to support the project.</span></p><p>That's backed up by research led by ETH Zurich/Crowther Lab showing there's potential to restore tree coverage across 2.2 billion acres of degraded land.</p><p>"Forests are critical to the health of the planet," according to <a href="https://www.1t.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1t.org</a>. "They sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures and freshwater flows, recharge groundwater, anchor fertile soil and act as flood barriers."</p><p><em data-redactor-tag="em" data-verified="redactor">Reposted with permission from the </em><span><em data-redactor-tag="em" data-verified="redactor"><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/redwoods-store-more-co2-and-are-more-enormous-than-we-thought/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></span></p>EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
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Kentucky is coping with historic flooding after a weekend of record-breaking rainfall, enduring water rescues, evacuations and emergency declarations.
<div id="0f31c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4290ab3e7ec4e142f8bce774bab39f03"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366307788155219969" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Just got back from my office... downtown Beattyville Kentucky is not a pretty sight. @KySportsRadio… https://t.co/6nXwyMKtRb</div> — Tom Jones (@Tom Jones)<a href="https://twitter.com/8atticus/statuses/1366307788155219969">1614588136.0</a></blockquote></div>
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