Earthquakes

When will the shaking and rattling finally wake people up to the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in populated areas? Do people here feel so beaten down by the prevailing political power structure and the oil and gas industry they will actually allow their homes to be damaged and possibly even destroyed to line the pockets of millionaire energy executives? Will they even risk the safety of their children?

The media coverage of the 4.3-magnitude earthquake that shook central Oklahoma Tuesday was complacent and routine. That's probably just what the oil and gas industry wants. A glance at online reports about the quakes from The Oklahoman, News 9, KOCO/Channel 5 and NewsChannel 4 shows they didn't even mention how scientists claim the dramatic surge in earthquakes here are caused by the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking.

An Oklahoma state senator, along with a Tulsa geologist, have called for establishing a federal task force to study the dramatic increase of earthquakes here that scientists argue is related to oil and gas drilling processes.

Fracking in Ohio has most likely increased pressure on a heretofore stable fault, causing five earthquakes in the process. It marks the first time geologists have linked those seismic events to gas drilling in the area.

Experts say a bigger earthquake along the lesser-known fault that gave Southern California a moderate shake could do more damage to the region than the long-dreaded "Big One" from the more famous San Andreas Fault. The Puente Hills thrust fault, which brought Friday night's magnitude-5.1 quake centered in La Habra and well over 100 aftershocks by Sunday, stretches from northern Orange County under downtown Los Angeles into Hollywood — a heavily populated swath of the Los Angeles area.

The U.S. Geological Survey has determined that the large rise in the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma in recent years might be partly attributed to the wastewater disposal methods used in oil and gas drilling techniques.