earthquakes

Injecting Wastewater Underground Can Cause Earthquakes Up to 10 Kilometers Away

Injecting Wastewater Underground Can Cause Earthquakes Up to 10 Kilometers Away

By Emily Brodsky Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. have increased dramatically in the last decade as a result of human activities. Enhanced oil recovery techniques, including dewatering and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have made accessible large quantities of oil and gas previously trapped underground, but often result in a glut of contaminated wastewater […]

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    Fears of Radiation Leak Soar After North Korea Nuclear Site Collapse Kills 200

    Fears of Radiation Leak Soar After North Korea Nuclear Site Collapse Kills 200

    Experts are issuing urgent warnings of a possible radiation leak following the collapse of a tunnel at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, an accident that reportedly killed at least 200 people. “Should [the Punggye-ri site] sink, there is a possibility” that hazardous radioactive gas could be released into the atmosphere, warned South Korea weather […]

    Fracking Debate Ramps Up Again in Illinois With First Permit Application Under New Rules

    Fracking Debate Ramps Up Again in Illinois With First Permit Application Under New Rules

    By Kari Lydersen Four years ago, the Illinois legislature passed a law to regulate high volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, after months of contentious negotiations between oil industry interests, environmental watchdogs and community groups. Leading up to the law’s passage, companies had secured hundreds of leases to potentially frack in Southern Illinois. But then oil […]

    8 Earthquakes Shake Oklahoma in 24 Hours

    8 Earthquakes Shake Oklahoma in 24 Hours

    Several earthquakes have struck Oklahoma this week, including a magnitude 4.2 that hit the central part of the state on Wednesday night. “The past 24 hours have had an uptick in earthquake numbers, with 8 quakes ranging from 2.6-4.2 magnitude occurring in Oklahoma,” USGS tweeted. USGS described last night’s 4.2 quake as “widely felt” in […]

    Erin Brockovich Helps Pawnee Nation Sue Fracking Companies Over Induced Earthquakes

    Erin Brockovich Helps Pawnee Nation Sue Fracking Companies Over Induced Earthquakes

    Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is helping Oklahoma‘s Pawnee Nation take on several fracking companies in a lawsuit alleging that damages to its tribal buildings and reservation property was the result of man-made, or induced, earthquakes. National Geographic reports that the Native American tribe has retained the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, with the aid of […]

    Fracking Study Links Pollution, Earthquakes to Drilling in Texas Shale

    Fracking Study Links Pollution, Earthquakes to Drilling in Texas Shale

    A new analysis of Texas’ oil and gas development underscores how there really are two sides to the energy debate. We know that drilling has brought the state billions in wealth, but its vast impacts on the environment cannot be ignored. The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST)—the state’s top scientific community—has […]

    Anything But the Wine! Climate Change Takes Its Toll on Grapes

    Anything But the Wine! Climate Change Takes Its Toll on Grapes

    A new Global Wine Index outlines the most at-risk wine regions according to natural disasters, rising temperatures and other climate change factors. Unfortunately, some of the world’s finest grapes are unlikely to survive. The index was created by a multidisciplinary European-Australian research team of engineers, seismologists, meteorologists, scientists and wine lovers, who analyzed 110,000 wineries […]

    Earthquake Strikes Wayne National Forest Near Fracking Operations

    Earthquake Strikes Wayne National Forest Near Fracking Operations

    By Jen Miller The U.S. Geological Survey reported an earthquake Sunday in Monroe County with the epicenter located at 39.6663º N, 81.244º W. The 3.0 magnitude earthquake was located in the Marietta Unit of the Wayne National Forest. Approximately 40,000 acres of the forest are slated for fracking by the Bureau of Land Management. Earthquakes […]

    Trump Administration to Kill Fracking Rule on Public Lands

    Trump Administration to Kill Fracking Rule on Public Lands

    The Trump administration intends to scrap and rewrite an Obama-era rule designed to make fracking on federal lands safer. Drilling has taken place on federal lands for years, with more than 100,000 wells in existence. In 2015, the Interior Dept. issued new standards aimed at making the process safer, including stricter and higher design standards […]