Fracking not a significant earthquake risk: Researchers

A new study concludes that hydraulic fracturing to obtain natural gas is “not a significant mechanism” in causing earthquakes, but it can reactivate dormant faults.

The research, led by Durham University in Durham, England, found that hydraulic fracturing caused small-scale seismic activity that only geoscientists would be able to detect, the university said Wednesday.

The controversial process known as fracking uses high-pressure water, sand and chemicals to free natural gas from subterranean shale deposits.

The insurance industry does not offer specific fracking coverage that satisfies all potential ramifications and related litigation of a claim alleging damage due to fracking activities, experts say.

The size and number of felt earthquakes caused by fracking is minimal compared with other manmade processes such as mining, geothermal activity or reservoir water storage, Richard Davies, dean of knowledge exchange and impact and director of the Durham Energy Institute, said in a statement.

“Most fracking-related events release a negligible amount of energy roughly equivalent to or even less than someone jumping off a ladder onto the floor,” he said. “So we have concluded that hydraulic fracturing is not a significant mechanism for inducing felt earthquakes. It is extremely unlikely that any of us will ever be able to feel an earthquake caused by fracking.”

However, the study — based on data and analysis of induced earthquakes that have occurred since 1929 with the goal to inform the current debate surrounding fracking — did establish that fracking can reactivate dormant faults and suggested that the oil and gas industry avoid faults that are critically stressed to mitigate the possibly of an earthquake.

The study, “Induced Seismicity and the Hydraulic Fracturing of Low Permeability Sedimentary Rocks,” was funded by Durham University and Keele University in Staffordshire, England.

The study is available here.