Originally published February 4, 2012 at 5:12 p.m., updated February 5, 2012 at 10:41 a.m.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.0 earthquake occurred at 6:48 a.m. Saturday about 20 miles southeast of Pleasanton in Karnes County, about 38 miles northwest of Beeville.
The earthquake had a depth of 3.1 miles from the surface, according to the agency's website.
Local law enforcement officials from the Pleasanton Police Station and the Karnes County Sheriff's Office said they received no reports of an earthquake.
Comments
Anonymous nlj says...
From the drilling?
Posted 4 February 2012, 8:17 p.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous Debunker says...
More than likely. Earthquakes in that area are rare to nonexistent and now we've had several in recent times. Only thing that's changed is the drilling.
Posted 5 February 2012, 3:37 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous familyman1122 says...
If any human actions caused the earthquake it has to be the fracking and not the drilling. Drilling just punches a small hole into the ground several thousand feet. Not miles deep. They use tens of thousands of P.S.I. to force the fluids and sand into the formation. At the level of about 2 miles deep. Not 3.5 miles deep. Would'nt the fracking need to be at the point of the earthquake or close to it to be the cause. I think the earthquake was NOT caused by the oil boom. Instead I think it was the shifting of the tectonic plates below the surface of the earth. Natural causes.........
Posted 5 February 2012, 6:23 a.m. Suggest removal
Mark Krueger markkrueger says...
A corelation is being studied between all these quakes and disposal wells. The recent quake in Ohio was centered at a disposal well right on top of a fault. The statement was made by an engineer working for the company that in over 40 years of operating disposal wells, no earthquakes have occured as a result of their disposal wells.
So, why today? Shear volume. In days gone by, the only fluids being disposed of were drilling fluids and "produced" water. Today, millions of gallons of fracking fluids with dissolving agents are being shot down these holes. It makes sense that if these fluids are injected into a fault zone that the fabric holding the fault together may be dissolved.
Hundreds of trucks wait in line at disposal wells, sometimes for 5 or 6 hours, to offload the waste water. Unlike fracking, where about 20% of the water returns to the surface as "flowback" (plus or minus a million gallons per well), disposal waste goes down the hole and doesn't return. It has to go somewhere underground.
One partial solution is to keep and recycle the flowback instead of disposing of it. Also, as we all know, the drought is supposed to continue through the summer so any retention of water is going to be extremely important. Fountain Quail, a water recycler, is ramping up as we speak in Kenedy. The flowback and produced water are filtered, clarified and reused as drilling fluid or actually distilled to produce fresh water for fracking.
In Cleburne, Texas, a relation between frequent earthquakes and several disposal wells was suspected. When a moratorium was put on these wells, the quakes stopped. Same thing in Arkansas, where over 700 quakes were reported in 2010. When the disposal stopped, so did the quakes.
We'll be hearing and learning more about these earthquakes in the near future. Hopefully a catastrophic quake doesn't occur in the meantime.
Posted 5 February 2012, 8:27 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous rangerdanger says...
So how does the disposal well theory work here. There is not a disposal well in that area. If you look at a historical map of earthquakes in Texas the Pleasenton area has had them all along. I believe its just a natural occurance and its just easiest for everyone to blame the drilling/fracking. I think all of the prducers in the area need to do a better job of educating the public to exactly what they do.
Posted 5 February 2012, 11:05 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous tnt88 says...
Since 1982 ( No Fracking)
Date-Distance-Magnitude-Depth
11/12/2011
17.58
3.3
5
10/20/2011
28.75
4.8
5
01/10/2011
36.27
2.6
5
12/21/2010
34.88
3
5
04/25/2010
94.90
3.9
5
03/08/2010
26.54
3
5
04/07/2008
26.72
3.9
5
03/24/1997
90.03
3.8
5
05/16/1993
21.60
3
5
04/09/1993
24.26
4.3
5
07/20/1991
26.81
3.6
10
08/08/1984
13.34
3.1
5
03/03/1984
8.18
3.9
5
07/23/1983
26.30
3.4
5
03/28/1982
61.01
3
5
Posted 5 February 2012, 11:06 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous tnt88 says...
I really believe that this fracking news about all the fracking fracking is all blown out of fracking proportion. Earthquakes have been going on for millions of fracking years and excepted as a fracking natural cause until now. Is there any fracking scientific data to back up the assumption that all of this fracking is causing recent fracking earthquakes?
Posted 5 February 2012, 11:13 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous SugarMagnolia says...
Well, frack it!
Posted 5 February 2012, 1:08 p.m. Suggest removal
Mark Krueger markkrueger says...
There has been discussion regarding the earthquakes and their association with disposal wells. However, the disposal wells in this area are relatively shallow compared to the drilling itself.
If one mile down is 5,280 feet, then a 21,000 foot well is about 4 miles down. So, where was the depth of the latest earthquake in Karnes County? 3 miles? Look at "Gushers and Dusters" to see what depth the wells are completed in Karnes County. Could there be a relation?
Regarding above-ground contamination, look at this link and take some time to read the study by Cornell University. These aren't environmentalists that performed this study, but rather scientists and veterinarians... http://ecowatch.org/2012/cornell-stud...
This is a very extensive study and takes time to read...if you're interested.
Also, tnt88 gave some good information regarding historical earthquakes in the area. Notice that the frequency increased in 2010.
Posted 5 February 2012, 8:55 p.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous Debunker says...
Yeah,
It must be all the fracking.
After all, Last time I fracked, She said the Earth Moved.
Posted 6 February 2012, 12:04 a.m. Suggest removal
Mark Krueger markkrueger says...
This is a presentation discussing possible connection between disposal wells and earthquakes.
http://fortworthtexas.gov/uploadedFil...
Posted 6 February 2012, 6:22 a.m. Suggest removal