title: Induced earthquakes. Sharp increase in central Oklahoma seismicity since 2008 induced by massive wastewater injection.
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 wastewater 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- and 5-kilometer depth. The modeled fluid pressure perturbation propagates throughout the same depth range and tracks earthquakes to distances of 35 kilometers, with a triggering threshold of ~0.07 megapascals. Although thousands of disposal wells operate aseismically, four of the highest-rate wells are capable of inducing 20% of 2008 to 2013 central U.S. seismicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. keranen@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keranen
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weingarten
authors.affiliation: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Abers
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bekins
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ge
mesh_terms: D055866:Earthquakes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields; D009825:Oklahoma; D062065:Wastewater / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater