The North Texas earthquake last night and what the UK knows about fracking quakes.

Another fracking earthquake in North Texas

Here’s the event page Event Page.

This article is not available online but I’ve included an excerpt below:

An E&E Publishing Service
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING: U.K. driller halts fracking over environmental concerns  (Friday, March 15, 2013)

U.K.-based company Cuadrilla has suspended activity at one of its three gas drilling sites until next year, pending the completion of an environmental assessment this fall.

[…]

Government ministers have warned Cuadrilla over performance concerns in the past, particularly regarding a 2011 incident in which the company waited six months to tell officials about damage to a fracking well after an earthquake. The integrity of the well was never compromised, so no gas reportedly leaked, although the site was shut down and reviewed a few weeks later after a second temblor shook the area.

Hydraulic fracturing involves shooting pressurized water, sand and chemicals down well bores to free up gas trapped in shale rock. The process is heavily regulated in the United Kingdom, as many contend it can contribute to water contamination and earthquakes.

“My department is concerned Cuadrilla failed to recognize the significance of the casing deformation experienced in the earth tremor triggered by fracking operations on 1 April 2011,” said then-Energy Minister Charles Hendry in a letter to Browne dated May 11, 2012, recently released via a Freedom of Information request. He added that the “failure discloses weaknesses in Cuadrilla’s performance as a licensee, which need to be addressed.”

There are two confirmed reports of damage to shale gas wells caused by seismicity from fracing itself NOT just the injection wells. DUH! See report linked below.

Note in both cases the strength of the “quake” was low–what industry in Texas calls a micro quake–by standards of expected damage to surface structures, but not low for sub-surface structures.

Here’s a study from the UK linking earthquakes to fracking.