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It was a few minutes past 7:00 am on September 3, 2016, when the earth started shaking in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Goods fell from grocery store shelves, and sandstone facades tumbled to the ground.
The quake was the largest recorded in Oklahoma history, measuring a magnitude 5.8. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured as the size of energy released at the quake's source.
Oklahoma has had a serious increase in earthquakes over the past several years, an uptick attributed to oil and gas companies re-injecting water from drilling operations back into the ground. Geologists have linked the practice to hundreds of quakes across the state.
Soon after the quake struck, state regulators ordered well operators in the immediate area to shut down operations. But the exact cause of the quake remained uncertain.
Now, geologists have another piece of the puzzle.
The quake was the largest recorded in Oklahoma history, measuring a magnitude 5.8. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured as the size of energy released at the quake's source.
Oklahoma has had a serious increase in earthquakes over the past several years, an uptick attributed to oil and gas companies re-injecting water from drilling operations back into the ground. Geologists have linked the practice to hundreds of quakes across the state.
Soon after the quake struck, state regulators ordered well operators in the immediate area to shut down operations. But the exact cause of the quake remained uncertain.
Now, geologists have another piece of the puzzle.
Wastewater injection played a role in Oklahoma’s largest earthquake
It was a few minutes past 7:00 am on Saturday morning, September 3, 2016, when the earth started shaking in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Read on.
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