OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – At least seven earthquakes rattled north-central Oklahoma on Monday, including one felt 300 miles away in Iowa, prompting concern from local residents and policymakers that the state isn’t doing enough to curb the quakes that scientists have linked to oil and gas activity.
Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes magnitude 3.0 skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 720 so far this year. Many of the earthquakes are occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater – a byproduct of oil and gas production – deep into the earth.
“It lasted for several seconds, but it’s hard to tell when you just wake up,” resident Frankie Robbins said of the 4.7 temblor that hit before 4 a.m. Monday some 16 miles from his home in Medford, which is about 80 miles south of Wichita, Kansas.
Robbins said the quakes left a few pictures askew on his wall, and he noticed a door frame in his house is “tighter than it used to be.” And while no major damage or injuries were reported, Robbins said residents are growing increasingly uneasy about the frequency of the quakes.
“There’s definitely a sense of concern for some people when they feel them in the middle of the night,” Robbins said.