>> Anchor: TROUBLING TREMORS
IN UNCOMMON PLACES.
MAN MADE EARTHQUAKES ARE A
PROBLEM WHERE YOU WOULD LEAST
EXPECT THEM.
COULD A GROWING INDUSTRY BE THE
CAUSE OF SURPRISING QUAKES.
>> Anchor: BEN BAILEY HAS A
PHENOMENON.
>> Weather: IT HAS BEEN
RIDICULOUS.
EARTHQUAKES ARE ONE OF MOTHER
NATURE'S MOST DEVASTATING
DISPLAY OF POWER.
THEY HAPPEN IN CALIFORNIA AND
OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
BUT THEY ARE POPPING UP IN
UNCOMMON AREAS AND IT COULD BE
RELATED TO THE INCREASE IN OIL
AND GAS DRILLING.
STILL GOING.
>> Reporter: OKLAHOMA CITY
THREE YEARS AGO.
A 4.3 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE SHOOK
THE HARTLAND.
THE DAMAGE, WELL, IT WAS NOT
CATASTROPHIC BUT IT IS IMPORTANT
TO NOTE THAT THIS WAS JUST ONE
OF 579 EARTHQUAKES THAT YEAR.
>> THAT'S SCARY.
>> PROBABLY.
>> Reporter: AS DRILLING
INDUSTRY GREW IN OKLAHOMA SO DID
ALARMING RATE.
>> BETWEEN 2009 AND 2013 WE
RAMPED UP TO AS MANY AS -- IN
2013 WE HAD OVER 100 MAGNITUDE
THREE OR LARGER.
AND THEN IT TOOK OFF.
IN 2014, WE HAD 579.
AND IN 2015 WE HAVE 903.
>> Reporter: THAT'S RIGHT.
NOT A STEADY CLIMB BUT A
COLOSSAL JUMP.
OKLAHOMA LIKE MICHIGAN, NOT
KNOWN FOR EARTHQUAKES.
SO WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
DR. BOOKS SAID MAN MADE OR
INDUCED EARTHQUAKES ARE THE
RESULT OF MINERAL EXPLORATION
COMPANIES DRILLING DISPOSAL
WELLS DOWN TO A LEVEL IN THE
WATER.
WHEN COMPANIES DRILL FOR OIL AND
GAS THEY BRING UP WASTE WATER
THAT NEEDS TO GO SOMEWHERE.
SO IT IS PUMPED BACK INTO THE
GROUND AND INTO DISPOSAL WELLS
THAT WERE CREATED TO HANDLE
THESE FLUIDS.
>> WE JUST OVER SATURATED THE
TAKE THE WATER.
>> Reporter: THAT'S WHEN THE
GROUND BECOMES UNSTABLE AND
FAULTS ARE TRIGGERED.
ONCE LAYER ABOVE THE BASEMENT.
LEVEL OF ROCK IS DISTURBED
PRESSURE PULSE PUSHES
STABILIZING PRESSURE OUT OF
PLACE AND CREATES THE
OPPORTUNITY FOR EARTHQUAKES.
OKLAHOMA'S RATE OF TWO OR MORE
RECENTLY.
THE PRICE OF OIL AND GAS HAS
GONE DOWN.
SO DEMAND TO DRILL IS DOWN AS
WELL.
BUT IN 2016, A 5.8 MAGNITUDE
QUAKE HIT THE TOWN OF PAWNEE.
HISTORY.
COULD THAT HAPPEN HERE?
>> WE DON'T HAVE THOSE
CONDITIONS IN MICHIGAN.
WE DON'T, MOST OF THE INJECTION
WELLS OPERATE AT LOW PRESSURE.
>> Reporter: HAL FITCH STATE
GEOLOGIST, DIVISION OF THE
DEPARTMENT MENTAL AND QUALITY.
HE SAID THEY HAVE BEEN WATCHING
THIS SITUATION IN OKLAHOMA AND
>> STOPLIGHT APPROACH WHERE YOU
MONITOR AND LOOK FOR POTENTIAL
INDICATIONS AND THEN YOU STEP UP
YOUR REGULATIONS AS-NEEDED.
WE HAVE NOT HAD THAT KIND OF
ARE PREPARED FOR IT.
>> Reporter: AS FOR OKLAHOMA?
THEY ARE PAVING THE WAY IN HOW
TO MONITOR AND PREVENT MAN MADE
INCIDENTS.
>> KEEPING AN EYE ON THE RATE AT
WHICH YOU ARE DISPOSING OF
WATER.
AND FINALLY TRYING TO KEEP THE
DISPOSAL ZONES UP AWAY FROM
ROCKS.
>> WE ARE WATCHING THE
SITUATION, WE HAVE NEVER HAD AN
INSTANCE OF TRIGGERED EARTHQUAKE
IN MICHIGAN.
BUT WATCHING IT.
WE KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHAT
BE.
>> Reporter: SO HERE IS A SHOT
OF THE EARTHQUAKES IN LAST 24
HOURS I OKLAHOMA.
1.8 MAGNITUDE.
AND BOUNCE OVER TO CALIFORNIA
AND IT IS REALLY NOTHING
COMPARED TO OUT THERE.
IN FACT, THAT RED DOT SHOWED UP
WITHIN THE LAST 10 MINUTES.
THEY HAVE GOTTEN MORE THAN TWO
DOZEN WITHIN THE LAST DAY.
>> WE GET CAVALIER WITH HOW
ROUTINE THEY ARE.
I LIVED IN OKLAHOMA ABOUT SIX
YEARS IN 90s AND IT WAS NOT A
PART --
>> YOU DO NOT REMEMBER THAT?
>> Anchor: NO.
>> Weather: THEY SAY STOPPING
THIS WILL NOT NECESSARILY MAKE
THE EARTHQUAKES GO AWAY.
AND IT COULD ACTUALLY MAKE THEM
WORSE.
SO THAT'S ONE THING.
AND SECONDLY, ONE WORD YOU DID
NOT HEAR IN THIS PIECE IS
FRACKING.
DEEP WATER DRILLING.