Number of Oklahoma Earthquakes Drops for 4th Straight Year

The ground keeps shaking in Oklahoma. Nearly 30 magnitude 3.0 or greater quakes have shaken the state this year. The good news- that number is on decline for the fourth straight year after state regulators began directing oil and natural gas producers to close some wells and reduce injection volumes in others.

27 earthquakes have been recorded in 2019, down from 97 by this time in 2018 and 144 in the first half of 2017.

Oklahoma’s Corporation Commission began imposing volume limits on oil companies’ disposal wells in mid-2015, after the quakes were linked to the underground injection of wastewater.

Numerous lawsuits have been filed in recent years accusing the oil companies of triggering earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey has calculated Oklahoma’s short-term hazard levels to be similar to active regions in California.