More than 20 earthquakes that occurred last year in the Azle area in Texas, were the reason for the Texas Railroad Commission to hold a public meeting in Azle on January 2 and investigate the connection between the plethora of injection wells that are active in the state and the quakes.
The injection wells, which are used to pump salt water produced by oil wells, back down to help extract more oil, can rarely trigger an earthquake as experts say. But a large percentage of these wells is used as disposal wells, which sometimes can cause seismic events, according to Cliff Frohlich, associate director of the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin. The risk is also enhanced by the extensive use of the hydraulic fracturing procedure where wastewater is either recycled or pumped down through disposal wells. In order to research the link between the earthquakes and the injection wells, researchers from the Southern Methodist University and the U.S. Geological Survey are trying to collect data through a network of installed quake monitors around Azle and Reno, in northern Parker County. According to McGarr, an earthquake researcher at the Geological Survey, sufficient evidence of the correlation would be the fact that the earthquake appeared soon after the operation of the injection well or if the quake stopped after the well's operation is stopped. Furthermore, McGarr's research has shown that the quantity of the injected fluid rather than the injection's rate is the main factor in triggering earthquakes. The researchers on the Azle project expect to present the results from the study in late April or even earlier.
See also: "Texas study shows gas injection a probable suspect of creating earthquakes"
Source: Star-Telegram
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