Oklahoma Among 17 New USGS-Designated Earthquake Zones For Induced Seismicity - Reuters [View all]

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U.S. government geologists now recognize much of Oklahoma as earthquake country, accounting for the bulk of 17 regions newly designated for seismic hazards attributed to underground disposal of wastewater from fossil fuel production.

The 17 regions are delineated in the first official map by the U.S. Geological Survey documenting areas of elevated and increasing earthquake frequency found to be induced by human activity, namely deep-well injection of oil and gas wastewater. The areas are spread across the central and eastern United States, from Colorado to Ohio.

Oklahoma, long synonymous with the storm-prone area of the country known as "tornado alley," now lies at the heart of a new manmade potential disaster zone, comprising by far the greatest amount of quake activity linked to wastewater injection. The new quake map was part of a USGS study modeling human-caused seismic hazards released on Thursday in conjunction with a meeting of the Seismological Society of America in Pasadena, California.

It came a day after Oklahoma geologists issued their own report documenting strong links between rising seismic activity and wastewater injection. The USGS reported similar findings last year for Colorado and New Mexico. Other states with newly designated human-caused seismic zones include Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and Alabama.

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