ENID, Okla. (AP) — A state agency says Oklahoma is now the most frequent earthquake area in the world and announced a plan to reduce the tremors' risk in the Medford area, which has experienced numerous temblors since the weekend.
The Enid News and Eagle reports an Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman says there have been 15 earthquakes in that area since Saturday, and that the state is unique in its number of earthquakes.
The commission's Oil and Gas Conservation Division announced a plan Tuesday to reduce the risk of induced earthquakes in that area.
A recent paper by the U.S. Geological Survey singled out Oklahoma, concluding that injection of massive amounts of the byproduct of oil and gas production — chemical-laced wastewater — deep into the earth has induced the quakes.