At least two Ohio earthquakes hit Monday morning, causing authorities to shut down a fracking operation in the area until it could be investigated.
The magnitude 3.0 quake at about 2:26 a.m. was strong enough to wake up some residents in Poland Township, according to local NBC affiliate WFMJ. Reports said the smaller quake followed at 11:44 a.m.The deeper these operations drill into the ground to get oil, the more that this becomes a public safety issue, not just an environmental issue. These operations pay good money while they last -- but then they close down at some point, creating a cycle of boom and bust. While we don't know at this point whether fracking caused these earthquakes, the suspicion was strong enough that authorities called a halt until they could find out.
"All available information indicates the events are not connected to Class II injection activities," Mark Bruce says, ODNR public information officer."Out of an abundance of caution we notified the only oil and gas operator in the area, and ordered them to halt all operations until further assessment can take place. ODNR is using all available resources to determine the exact circumstances surrounding this event and will take the appropriate actions necessary to protect public health and safety."