«When we compared the spatial correlation using datasets that include only magnitude 3 - plus earthquakes, there was no change,» said Pollyea, adding that a larger reduction in
wastewater injection volumes is needed to reduce the dangers of large magnitude earthquakes.
The new study is part of a larger effort that Pollyea and his collaborators are pursuing to study fluid - triggered earthquakes and
wastewater injection volume and their relation to population centers in Oklahoma, building codes, policy decisions, and industry regulations.
The results showed that the spatial correlation between earthquakes and
wastewater injection volume indeed decreased in 2016.
Not exact matches
Since 2015 Oklahoma has slashed
injection volumes and, in some cases, suspended
wastewater disposal near seismic zones in an effort to mitigate the quakes.
Abers and his colleagues dug up data on the rates and
volumes of liquids associated with the
wastewater injection sites.
This study is the first to show the extent of the impact of
wastewater injection wells at Kahului
Wastewater Reclamation Facility, Maui's highest -
volume sewage treatment plant, on Kahului Bay.
In a new study, Virginia Tech researchers have found that efforts to curb earthquakes triggered by the
injection of oilfield
wastewater into the ground in Oklahoma are not targeting the most dangerous tremblers, and that a larger reduction in
injection volumes is needed.
They used the model to estimate stress changes induced in the area by two
wastewater injection wells and the more than 70 production wells that remove both natural gas and significant
volumes of salty water known as brine.
Previous attempts to model the relationship between
injection of
wastewater and the triggering of earthquakes suggested that the maximum magnitude of the seismic activity induced in this way would be proportional to the
volume of the fluids injected.
The suspected culprit is fracking — or more specific to this case, the three
injection wells in the area, which inject «vast
volumes of salty, chemical - laced
wastewater» deep into the ground.