Citation

Keranen KM, Weingarten M, Abers GA, Bekins BA, Ge S. Science 2014; 345(6195): 448-451.

Affiliation

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science)

DOI

10.1126/science.1255802

PMID

24993347

Abstract

Unconventional oil and gas production provides a rapidly growing energy source; however, high-production states in the United States, such as Oklahoma, face sharply rising numbers of earthquakes. Subsurface pressure data required to unequivocally link earthquakes to injection are rarely accessible. Here we use seismicity and hydrogeological models to show that fluid migration from high-rate disposal wells in Oklahoma is potentially responsible for the largest swarm. Earthquake hypocenters occur within disposal formations and upper-basement, between 2-5 km depth. The modeled fluid pressure perturbation propagates throughout the same depth range and tracks earthquakes to distances of 35 km, with a triggering threshold of ~0.07 MPa. Although thousands of disposal wells operate aseismically, four of the highest-rate wells are capable of inducing 20% of 2008-2013 central US seismicity.

Language: en