Luke 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed to CNBC that Oklahoma is seeing a massive increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes over the last 7 years to the level that the state sees 2 quakes a day.
“We have a good record going all the way back to the 1970s of magnitude 3 or larger earthquakes. They increased throughout the central U.S. in 2009, but primarily in just a few states like southern Colorado, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma,” says Bill Leith, senior science adviser for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards at USGS, told CNBC. “Oklahoma is the most striking case, where the number of earthquakes is now at record levels.”
The USGS said that from 2008 through April 8th, 2015, a total of 1,063 earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or greater were officially recorded in Oklahoma. This year there has been a total of 210 compared to just 91 over the same time in 2014.
Critics of the drilling process called fracking blame the quakes on the fracking process but quakes have been on the rise in Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado and Ohio according to the USGS which seems to counter the claims the Oklahoma quakes are related solely to fracking.
The quakes are causing another concern for the oil and gas industry above the people critical of the fracking process; storage of oil above ground. Cushing, Oklahoma is the major hub of oil pipelines in America and over $3 billion in crude oil is stored above ground in that area. A major quake that ruptures a tank could cause millions in damage to supplies and surrounding lands.