Oklahoma Went From 2 Quakes a Year to 903. The cause will surprise you

Before 2009, Oklahoma averaged about two earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher a year. In 2015 it had 903. For a few years, it was the most seismically active part of the lower 48, and in 2016 the strongest earthquake in the state's recorded history ruptured a fault nobody had mapped. This is a countdown of 20 facts about the ground under Oklahoma, from a fault scarp near the Wichita Mountains and a well drilled six miles down, to the Prague, Fairview, Pawnee and Cushing earthquakes, the wells regulators ordered to stop, the fracking question, and the one rock layer that ties it all together. Chapters 0:00 Intro (timestamps to add from the final cut) Sources 903 M3+ in 2015, about 2 a year before 2009, the decline after 2015: Walter et al. (2019), Oklahoma Geological Survey seismic network paper. OGS "Statement on Oklahoma Seismicity", April 21, 2015. Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Pawnee area action, September 12, 2016. Most seismically active region in the contiguous US: Hincks et al. (2018), Science. Prague 2011: Keranen et al. (2013), Geology. Cherokee / Alfalfa County and produced water: Walsh & Zoback (2015), Science Advances. Fairview 2016: USGS. Pawnee 2016 and the unmapped fault: Kolawole et al. (2019), Nature Geoscience. Induced earthquakes overview: USGS. Fracking vs. wastewater disposal: USGS, "Myths and Misconceptions About Induced Earthquakes". 2016 hazard forecast: USGS. Cushing 2016: NPR; U.S. Energy Information Administration. Meers Fault: Chase et al. (2023), GSA Bulletin. Anadarko Basin: USGS Open-File Report 88-450W (1988). Wichita and Arbuckle Mountains: Oklahoma Geological Survey brochure; Oklahoma Historical Society. Bertha Rogers well: American Oil & Gas Historical Society. Earthquake details (magnitudes, depths, felt reports): USGS ComCat events usp000jadn, us10006jxs, us100075y8.