Sunday, February 02, 2014

The dangerous aspect of fracking quakes is it's leading to liquefaction and land subsidence.

Liquefaction is caused by water pressure due to the movement of rock during earthquakes. They are massive pressures. It is the water movement that results in added destruction of surface rock. Repeated quakes only increase the occurrence of high water pressure on surface rock, therefore, increase the possibility of land subsidence. Land subsidence indicates land instability. It can also result in flood plains and loss of land in communities suitable for housing development. 

Earthquake Induced Hydraulic Fracturing and Delayed Liquefaction in Heterogeneous Saturated Soils (click here)
 
Phetmano P. Phannavong
Majid T. Manzari
 
...The experiments on heterogeneous specimens showed that during the shaking water pressure builds up underneath the seam of silt and creates an upward flow of high gradient, which causes the silt seam to crack. A delayed liquefaction in the upper soil mass is observed to occur following the hydraulic fracturing of the silt seam. The experiments also show the significant role of the duration of shaking on the delayed liquefaction of upper layer.

January 30, 2014
Nevada Appeal Staff Report

A series of mild earthquakes (click here) has hit the area just north of Virginia City this week.


The University of Nevada, Reno’s Seismological Laboratory reported the first quake, a 3.1-magnitude temblor, about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday about 9 miles north-northeast of Virginia City.


A second quake was reported at 11 p.m. Wednesday. This one, at magnitude 3.0, hit about 8 miles north-northeast of Virginia City. A third quake, at magnitude 2.6, hit at 2:25 a.m. Thursday. That was followed Thursday by one at magnitude 3.1 at 2:32 a.m., at magnitude 3.0 at 3:22 a.m. and at magnitude 2.6 at 3:42 a.m. All hit about 8 miles north-northeast of Virginia City.


A magnitude-2.1 quake hit at 12:42 p.m. in the same area....

Jeri Chadwell, Nevada Media Alliance



...Several Committee members (click here) raised concerns about the potential risks associated with fracking. Assemblywoman Dr. Heidi Swank expressed her concern that fracking might lead to an increase in earthquakes in the state, referencing a swarm of earthquakes in Arkansas that experts have said may be attributable to fracking activities. Assemblywoman Leslie Cohen voiced her own concerns about the amount of water that would be required to run a fracking operation and asked Enos to give the Committee an idea of how much water would be used....