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America's Addiction to Fossil Fuels Is Officially Causing Earthquakes

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lostlakehiker2/28/2015 6:21:30 pm PST

Also sort of technically—-how dangerous, really, is a magnitude three earthquake? Wikipedia’s article on the “Richter scale” has a discussion.

2.0-2.9 Minor I to II Felt slightly by some people. No damage to buildings. Over one million per year
3.0-3.9 II to IV Often felt by people, but very rarely causes damage. Shaking of indoor objects can be noticeable. Over 100,000 per year

That would be worldwide. So with 100 000 per year, Oklahoma’s share of that would come to about 30 a year. Maybe less since OK isn’t an active fault zone, but still.

These earthquakes are literally earthshaking, but metaphorically speaking, they’re hiccups.

Now don’t get me wrong—-I know that humanity is causing the earth to warm and that there are real and dangerous consequences to using so much fossil fuel. But this particular consequence, while real, is not dangerous.