Publication Date:
2017-09-19
Description:
Each of the three earthquake sequences in Oklahoma in 2016 – Fairview, Pawnee, and Cushing – appears to have been induced by high-volume wastewater disposal within 10 km. The Fairview M5.1 mainshock was part of a two-year sequence of more than 150 events of M3, or greater; the mainshock accounted for about half of the total moment. The foreshocks and aftershocks of the M5.8 Pawnee earthquake were too small and too few to contribute significantly to the cumulative moment; instead, nearly all of the moment induced by wastewater injection was focused on the mainshock. The M5.0 Cushing event is part of a sequence that includes 48 earthquakes of M3, or greater, that are mostly foreshocks. The cumulative moment for each of the three sequences during 2016, as well as that for the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma, and nine other sequences representing a broad range of injected volume, were all limited by the total volumes of wastewater injected locally.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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