Friday, January 20, 2012
Earthquakes, Natural Gas Drilling, New Mexico
Listen at KSFR
SANTA FE, Aug. 23 -- Following a succession of earthquakes near New Mexico's
northern border, geology professor Rick Astor of New Mexico Tech says one
possibility for the "swarm" of quakes in that area is the prevalance of
energy drilling there.
He says faults inside the earth have stress and often can slip. "Earthquakes
could be induced if the fault's frictional properties are altered by the
injection of (fracking) fluids."
SANTA FE, Aug. 23 -- Following a succession of earthquakes near New Mexico's
northern border, geology professor Rick Astor of New Mexico Tech says one
possibility for the "swarm" of quakes in that area is the prevalance of
energy drilling there.
He says faults inside the earth have stress and often can slip. "Earthquakes
could be induced if the fault's frictional properties are altered by the
injection of (fracking) fluids."