New maps released on Monday by the USGS show potential ground-shaking hazards from both human-induced and natural earthquakes. Seismic stations installed in northwestern Oklahoma to track quakes. More than 60 earthquakes have rattled the northwest part of Oklahoma this week alone. In an effort to better track the seismic activity, researchers with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the Conoco Phillips School of Geology and the University of Oklahoma have partnered together to install a group of seismic stations in the rural part of northwestern Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has a new plan to stop earthquakes in central Oklahoma. KOCO Crystal Price has more on how experts are being more proactive. The USGS said the maps are also the first one-year outlook for earthquake hazards and the first time the USGS has identified human-induced earthquakes.
By including human-induced events, our assessment of earthquake hazards has significantly increased in parts of the U.S., said Mark Petersen, Chief of the USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project. This research also shows that much more of the nation faces a significant chance of having damaging earthquakes over the next year, whether natural or human-induced.
The USGS said wastewater disposal was the primary cause for human-induced earthquakes. The new maps show six states face the highest hazards ... Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas. Oklahoma and Texas have the largest populations exposed to human-induced earthquakes, according to the USGS.
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