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Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies (2013)

Chapter: Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
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APPENDIX J

Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity

A hydraulic fracture treatment in January 2011 in Eola field, Oklahoma, coincided with a series of earthquakes. Eola field is located in central Oklahoma, southwest of Oklahoma City (Figure J.1). Felt seismicity was reported on the evening of January 18 from one resident near Elmore City, Oklahoma. Further analysis showed 50 earthquakes occurred that evening, 43 of which were large enough to be located, ranging in magnitude from M 1.0 to M 2.8. The earthquakes are coincident in location and timing with a hydraulic fracture in the Eola field, Picket Unit B well 4-18. The events all occurred within 24 hours of the first activity. The deepest hydraulic fracture in the Picket Unit B well 4-18 occurred 7 hours before the first earthquake was detected. Most of the events appear to be about 3.5 km (2.2 miles) from the hydraulic fracture well (Figure J.2).

Accurate event locations were difficult to establish; the closest seismic station was 35 km (22 miles) away from the locus of the events. Errors in location are estimated to be 100-500 m (~100 to more than 500 yards) in ground distance and twice that for depth. The hypocenter depths are approximately 1 to 5 km in depth, similar to the injection depth for the 4-18 well (Figure J.3).

Other cases of suspected induced activity in Oklahoma have been reported in the past. For example, in June 1978, 70 earthquakes occurred in 6.2 hours in Garvin County after a hydraulic fracture treatment. In May 1979, a well was stimulated over a 4-day period, where three different formations were hydraulically fractured over at depths of 3.7, 3.4, and 3.0 km (2.2 to 1.8 miles). The first and deepest hydraulic fracture stage was followed by 50 earthquakes over the next 4 hours. The second stage was followed immediately by 40 earthquakes in 2 hours; no activity was associated with the third and shallowest hydraulic fracture (Nicholson and Wesson, 1990). The largest event in the sequence was M 1.9. Just two of the earthquakes were felt. The activity was 1 km (0.6 miles) away from the Wilson seismic station in Oklahoma.

South central Oklahoma has experienced historical seismicity (Figure J.4) and has been the most seismically active part of the state since 1977. A series of Earthscope Transportable Array stations were located near the events by coincidence; without these stations, a majority of the earthquakes could not be located.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
image

FIGURE J.1 Google Earth image showing the state of Oklahoma and the location of the Eola oil field. SOURCE: Google Earth.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
image

FIGURE J.2 Map of earthquake locations, the Picket Unit B Well 4-18. The Eola field is outlined by the gray hashed area. Faults mapped by Harlton (1964) are marked by green lines. SOURCE: Holland (2011).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
image

FIGURE J.3 Depth distribution of hypocenters and uncertainty estimates with respect to the fracture well 4.18. SOURCE: Holland (2011).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
image

FIGURE J.4 Map of historical seismicity from the Oklahoma Geological Survey catalog. Earthquakes from 1897 to 2010 are shown by red crosses. SOURCE: Holland (2011).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×

REFERENCES

Harlton, B.H. 1964. Tectonic framework of Eola and Southeast Hoover oil fields and West Timbered Hills area, Garvin and Murray counties, Oklahoma. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 48(9):1555-1567.

Holland, A. 2011. Examination of possibly induced seismicity from hydraulic fracturing in the Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geological Survey Open-File Report OF1-2011. Available at www.ogs.ou.edu/pubsscanned/openfile/OF1_2011.pdf. Accessed April 2012.

Nicholson, C., and R.L. Wesson. 1990. Earthquake Hazard Associated with Deep Well Injection—A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1951, 74 pp.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
Page 233
Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
Page 234
Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
Page 235
Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
Page 236
Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
Page 237
Suggested Citation:"Appendix J: Hydraulic Fracturing in Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma, and Potential Link to Induced Seismicity." National Research Council. 2013. Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13355.
×
Page 238
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In the past several years, some energy technologies that inject or extract fluid from the Earth, such as oil and gas development and geothermal energy development, have been found or suspected to cause seismic events, drawing heightened public attention.

Although only a very small fraction of injection and extraction activities among the hundreds of thousands of energy development sites in the United States have induced seismicity at levels noticeable to the public, understanding the potential for inducing felt seismic events and for limiting their occurrence and impacts is desirable for state and federal agencies, industry, and the public at large. To better understand, limit, and respond to induced seismic events, work is needed to build robust prediction models, to assess potential hazards, and to help relevant agencies coordinate to address them.

Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies identifies gaps in knowledge and research needed to advance the understanding of induced seismicity; identify gaps in induced seismic hazard assessment methodologies and the research to close those gaps; and assess options for steps toward best practices with regard to energy development and induced seismicity potential.

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