Northern Oklahoma was the site of a 4.2 magnitude earthquake Friday morning, one that was strong enough to be felt 150 miles away in Oklahoma City and more than 70 miles away in Wichita, Kansas. No one was reported injured but the quake was a repeat of a similar strong quake earlier in the month.
As a result, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered some disposal wells in the region to shut down operations. The order was directed by the Induced Seismicity Department of the OCC.
Operators of Arbuckle disposal wells within 3 miles of the quake’s epicenter were asked to cease operation. Operators of similar wells within 3 to 10 miles of the epicenter were requested to reduce disposed volume to no more than 50% of the most current 30-day average.
The Commission, in a statement said the actions will reduce disposed volumes by an estimated 7,000 barrels a day.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake that hit minutes before 8 a.m. had an epicenter 4.3 miles deep near the state-line town of Manchester in Grant County. The little town sits along state highway 183 and is northwest of Enid.
Residents reported the earthquake lasted nearly a minute and was strong enough to have been felt in Kansas City—270 miles away from the epicenter. One resident there said the quake lasted about 10 seconds.
The strong quake came about nine hours after a 2.6 magnitude earthquake was reported in Jefferson, Oklahoma which is about 35 miles from Manchester. More than a hundred Oklahoma residents said they felt the Thursday night shaker.
Northern Oklahoma had its share of earthquakes earlier in the month including another 4.2 magnitude quake.
Researchers are in broad agreement that disposal into the Arbuckle formation in parts of Oklahoma can raise risk of induced seismicity. Commission ISD directives since 2015 limiting or eliminating such disposal are among the actions credited with the sharp decrease in Oklahoma’s seismicity rate since 2015.
A map of the impacted area and the disposal wells in question is attached.