Pa. investigates earthquakes near fracking sites

Pennsylvania officials are investigating a possible link between a series of earthquakes this week and nearby hydraulic fracturing operations.

Federal seismologists reported five earthquakes in a 22-hour period on Monday between 1.7 and 1.9 magnitude in Lawrence County, smaller than what humans can feel, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

{mosads}Hilcorp Energy Co. was fracking a well nearby around the same time, with horizontal wells going in the direction toward the quakes.

The United States Geological Survey was cautious about linking the quakes to fracking, leaving it to the state Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to investigate, the Post-Gazette said.

Hilcorp stopped its fracking when it became aware of the possible link.

Fracking has rarely, if ever, been linked directly to quakes. More commonly, disposal of waste fluids from fracking or other drilling operations has caused earthquakes, such as the thousands that have occurred in Oklahoma in recent years.

“I think anyone looking at the situation would say there are earthquakes very close to where the well is at the time the well is being stimulated with hydraulic fracturing. That’s suggestive that there is a link,” Michael Brudzinski, a geology professor at Miami University in Ohio, told the Post-Gazette. “But I don’t think any of us are ready to say anything more conclusive than that.”