Aย second earthquakeย struck Greeley in northeastern Colorado on Monday, June 23 prompting the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to order a halt to the injection of contaminated drilling wastewater into a deep disposal well in the area.
The ban on injecting wastewater will last for 20 days as officials explore a potential link between the injection activity and the sudden jump in seismicity in the area. The most recent quake was a 2.6 magnitude temblor that hit about five miles north of Greeleyย at 12:27 p.m. It follows a 3.4 magnitude quake whichย struck the same area May 30.
Two quakes in less than a month, in an area the U.S. Geological Survey formerly called โaseismic,โ has led to speculation that the temblors are โfrackquakes,โ seismic activity induced by the injection of drilling wastewater into deep rockย formations.ย
High Sierra Water Services, the company doing the injecting, was ordered to stop its activities in light of theย quakes.ย
It isย accepted scientific factย that earthquakes are induced by fluid injection into deep geological formations. The U.S. Geological Surveyย has refused to rule outย the possibility that such injection wells can interact with nearby faults to cause majorย earthquakes.
Earthquakes induced by fluid injection can haveย magnitudes of up to 5, and injection activity has been known to cause significant earthquakes in eastern Colorado in theย past.
