The Shale Gas Shake

So, you need another reason to oppose fracking (via The Oil Drum)?

The earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma, on Nov. 6, 2011, was the state’s biggest and may be the largest linked to the injection of water from drilling process, the researchers reported. The state’s geological office disagreed, and said it was likely “the result of natural causes.” The temblor destroyed 14 homes, damaged other buildings, injured two people and buckled pavement, according to the report.

Left hand: cheaper gas for my guzzler (and more fun driving down roads); right hand: temblors?

A spate of earthquakes in the central U.S. in recent years is “almost certainly” man-made, and may be connected with wastewater disposal, U.S. Geological Survey researchers said a year ago. For the three decades until 2000, seismic events in the nation’s midsection averaged 21 a year. They jumped to 50 in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 in 2011.

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“There have been a handful of cases that may be tied to wastewater disposal out of the 150,000 disposal injection wells operating in this country, and our member companies have worked constructively with state regulators who have looked into this issue,” Whitten said.

Hmmm, regulators working with companies…right.