The Jim Bakker Show

Shakes and superstition: Exxon faces backlash in Papua New Guinea

FILE PHOTO: The ExxonMobil Hides Gas Conditioning Plant process area is seen in Papua New Guinea in this handout photo dated March 1, 2018. ExxonMobil/Handout via REUTERS/File Phot

By Jonathan Barrett and Henning Gloystein

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A deadly earthquake that struck ExxonMobil’s $19 billion gas project in the mountains of Papua New Guinea is sparking a backlash against the U.S. energy giant that could prove harder to fix than buried roads and broken pipes.

Some spooked locals blame Exxon <XOM.N> and its project partners of causing, or at least magnifying, the 7.5 magnitude quake on Feb. 26 and a series of intense aftershocks that continue to pound the impoverished and isolated region.

While firmly denied by Exxon and debunked by geologists, the accusations suggest that the project known as PNG LNG, one of the most successful liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments in the world, is sorely lacking goodwill from at least parts of the local population.

The concerns about the project – the country’s biggest revenue earner – are even being expressed at senior levels in the Papua New Guinea government.

PNG’s Vice Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Manasseh Makiba, told Reuters in a phone interview there should be an inquiry to respond to local concerns that mother nature had reacted after the ground was disturbed by drilling.

Graphic on Papua New Guinea’s earthquakes and aftershocks: http://reut.rs/2tq3zY6

“It could be man-made but that cannot be confirmed until a proper scientific inquiry can be done,” said Makiba, who represents parts of the quake-hit area. “We need to resolve that.”

PNG’s Minister for Finance James Marape has also demanded answers from the company.

“In a world of science and knowledge, I now demand answer(s) from Exxon and my own government as to the cause of this unusual trend in my Hela,” wrote Marape on his private feed on Facebook, referring to the quake-struck province.

He is among many who have lit up social media in PNG, with blogs and Facebook posts pointing the finger at the oil and gas sector’s alleged contribution to the disaster.

Around Exxon’s operation, communities remain fearful as the death toll climbs, with 18 more killed by a 6.7 magnitude aftershock on Wednesday.

Papua New Guinea straddles the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire.

Chris McKee, acting director of the Geohazards Management Division in Port Moresby, said there was no link between the project and seismic activity, which has included more than 120 quakes of magnitude 4.5 and greater in the week after the initial hit.

Graphic on Papua New Guinea government revenue and LNG income – http://reut.rs/2D3KAlP

“Earthquake activity has been going on much longer than the oil and gas industry presence in the region – there is no connection at all,” McKee said.

Scientific evidence strongly suggests the earthquake was “naturally occurring and consistent with prior events”, an Exxon spokeswoman said in a statement.

CORPORATE SUPPORT

Led by Exxon, with a one-third stake, and its Australian partners Oil Search <OSH.AX> and Santos <STO.AX>, PNG LNG could be shut for months as it inspects pipelines, the processing plant and the gas field for damage.

Exxon said it was giving $1 million to assist communities affected by the earthquake and was providing on-the-ground support to relief agencies so that resources could reach areas in greatest need.

“Logistics remains a challenge with roads cut and communication with remote communities difficult,” a company spokeswoman said. “We are continuing to provide logistics and human resources to help aid agencies to deliver support to our communities for the long term as they recover from this event.”

Oil Search Managing Director Peter Botten said he had not witnessed any local animosity toward the LNG project. Oil Search was constantly balancing the need for relief aid and keeping the community-sustaining business going when allocating post-quake resources, he said.

Graphic on share price performance of oil majors – http://reut.rs/2FeHCRw

“There’s a lot of concern the gods have been offended and specifically this is about education, and what earthquakes are about,” Botten told Reuters in a phone interview from PNG’s capital Port Moresby. “This is a communication issue.”

Most of the nations 8 million inhabitants live in remote communities where traditional beliefs remain strongly held.

SHAKY GROUND

Exxon has previously faced resentment in PNG, which contains vast natural resources but remains desperately poor.

Martyn Namorong, national coordinator for landowner rights and governance lobby group PNG Resource Governance Coalition, said the quake had reawakened concerns raised in 2012 when a landslide tore through a quarry used by Exxon, killing at least 25 people.

“It’s not just a localized thing or an ignorant thing. People are wondering what might be the contributing factor of oil and gas extraction,” said Namorong, referring to the quake.

Exxon said at the time it had closed the Tumbi quarry five months before the landslide.

“Tumbi was a tragic event that had its own unique set of circumstances,” Exxon told Reuters in an email, without elaborating.

Concerns flared again last year when the oil major had to evacuate staff due to unrest in Hela province, where the project’s Hides Gas processing unit is located.

The trouble was linked to national elections and disputes over royalties from the PNG LNG project, which generates around $3 billion in sales per year at current LNG prices.

“PEOPLE ARE TERRIFIED”

The earthquake forced a closure of the Hides Gas processing facility which feeds a 700-km (435 miles) pipeline snaking through the jungle to the LNG plant and export terminal near Port Moresby.

The disruption in Papua New Guinea comes shortly after Exxon reported disappointing results, with PNG LNG a rare bright spot. Its shares have underperformed compared with its main competitors Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and Total.

“PNG LNG had reportedly been running at a very healthy 20 percent above nameplate capacity… There will be some hit to the PNG industry,” said Readul Islam, research analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy.

If repairs take long, the quakes could even delay plans with France’s Total to double output to around 16 million tonnes per annum at an estimated cost of $13 billion.

The companies plan to add three new LNG units, or trains, with two underpinned by gas from the Elk-Antelope fields, run by Total, and one underpinned by existing fields and a new Exxon-run field.

Repairs have been complicated by landslides blocking roads and the closure of the Komo airfield, which is the main lifeline of the region to the outside world.

Oil Search’s Botten said, importantly, the integrity of the gas facilities had been maintained and there were no leaks.

Still, the aftershocks have kept the local population on edge.

“The people are terrified,” said Australian Sally Lloyd, from near the quake zone in Mount Hagen. “They think the world is coming to an end.”

(Reporting by Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; additional reporting by Gary McWilliams in HOUSTON and Tom Westbrook in SYDNEY; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

2017 second-costliest year on record for natural-disaster insured losses

Cars drive under a partially collapsed utility pole, after the island was hit by Hurricane Maria in September, in Naguabo, Puerto Rico October 20, 2017.

(Reuters) – Insured losses in the private sector and government-sponsored programs from natural disasters came to $134 billion in 2017, making it the second-costliest year on record, broker Aon Benfield said on Wednesday.

Three major hurricanes in the United States and Caribbean alone led to losses of $100 billion in 2017, according to risk modeling agencies and reinsurers.

That compares with losses of about $74 billion caused by Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005.

There were 330 natural catastrophes last year, leading to overall economic losses of $353 billion, of which an “unprecedented” 97 percent were caused by weather-related events, according to Aon’s catastrophe report, making 2017 the costliest year on record for weather disasters.

At $132 billion, 2017 was also the costliest year for insurers for weather disasters, with 60 percent of global insurance payouts in the year caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

Weather losses exclude losses from other natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

Wildfires caused $14 billion of insurance losses in 2017 – the highest on record for the peril, Aon said.

California faced wildfires in the northern part of the state that resulted in losses to those insured of more than $9 billion in October. Later in December, a sprawling Southern California wildfire become the largest on record in the state.

Other notable weather events in the year included earthquakes in Mexico, floods and Typhoon Hato in China and drought in Southern Europe.

“The insurance industry was well-positioned to handle the cost of the 2017 disasters. Global reinsurer capital was a record $600 billion at the end of third quarter 2017,” Aon said.

As a result, some reinsurers had been expecting double-digit price rises across the board when the Jan. 1 renewals came around after all of last year’s losses.

In the end, however, global property reinsurance prices rose less than expected, with strong competition limiting increases to single-digit percentages.

German reinsurer Munich Re, said this month that insurers will have to pay claims of around $135 billion for 2017, the most ever, following the spate of hurricanes, earthquakes and fires in North America.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Insurers to pay out record $135 billion for 2017 after hurricanes

By Tom Sims and Alexander Hübner

FRANKFURT/MUNICH (Reuters) – Insurers will have to pay claims of around $135 billion for 2017, the most ever, following a spate of hurricanes, earthquakes and fires in North America, according to a report published on Thursday.

German reinsurer Munich Re , in its annual natural catastrophe review, also said last year’s total losses, including those not insured, were $330 billion, the second-worst in history after 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc in Japan.

Although individual events could not be linked directly to climate change, global warming is playing a role, Munich Re said. It expected more frequent extreme events in future.

“We have a new normal,” said Ernst Rauch, head of Munich Re’s Corporate Climate Center, which monitors climate change risks.

“2017 was not an outlier,” he said, noting insured losses have surpassed $100 billion multiple times since 2005. “We must have on our radar the trend of new magnitudes.”

Last year’s hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in the United States and Caribbean, wildfires in California and earthquakes in Mexico destroyed homes, infrastructure and numerous lives.

The disasters also rocked global insurers. Munich Re and Hannover Re both issued profit warnings.

That dealt a blow to a sector already struggling with thin margins, stiff competition and falling prices.

Munich Re’s tally for the industry comes on the back of other estimates that underscored the severity of 2017.

In December, Swiss Re estimated global insured losses from catastrophes would hit $136 billion in 2017, the third-highest on record for the sector, with the United States hardest hit. That figure is not directly comparable to Munich Re’s estimates as it includes man-made disasters.

Reinsurers, which are in the business of insuring insurance, are experts in managing risk and rarely get caught off guard. Analysts have said reinsurers may need to take a fresh look at their risk models as the planet warms and storms become more intense.

A big question for the industry has been whether the run of catastrophes would allow them to achieve higher prices for their coverage, which have been in decline for years.

Early indications suggest modest increases. Global property reinsurance prices rose less than expected in the key Jan. 1 renewal season, with strong competition limiting increases to single digit percentages, brokers said this week.

A turnaround in prices would be the first major reversal since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

(Editing by Maria Sheahan and Mark Potter)

U.S. survivalists stock up as disasters roil the planet

By Barbara Goldberg

(Reuters) – Two earthquakes, three monstrous hurricanes and the North Korean missile crisis have U.S. survivalists convinced that the end of the world is nigh. And they are clearing store shelves to stock bunkers in anticipation of Earth’s final chapter.

Sales of freeze-dried food, gas masks and other survival equipment have spiked in recent weeks as so-called “preppers” get ready to ride out any disaster, whether natural or man-made.

Inspiring their actions: images of people helpless against floodwater from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and island towns obliterated by their fury. People buried in rubble after earthquakes rattled Mexico. Footage of North Korea’s missiles blazing into the sky.

“It’s been a very busy six or seven weeks here – sales tripled practically overnight,” said Keith Bansemer, vice president for marketing for Idaho-based My Patriot Supply, an online store catering to preppper needs.

“It all started when North Korea shot the missile that was capable of reaching the U.S. Then the hurricanes and two Mexican earthquakes increased sales from California and Cascadia in the Northwest,” he said, referring to the corner of the country where many survivalists have settled because of its relative isolation.

David Yellin, a self-described prepper who lives in California’s San Diego County, said his main concern was the long-expected “big earthquake” along the West Coast.

The 31-year-old police officer has piled enough survival supplies in a closet of the apartment he shares with his fiance and their two dogs to allow them to hunker down for a month.

If disaster forces the couple to flee, each has a “bug-out bag” stuffed with three days of food, water, first aid and water purification supplies, fire-starting materials, a tent and sleeping bag, change of clothes and important documents.

At Ready To Go Survival, founder and chief executive Roman Zrazhevskiy said gas masks were quickly moving off the shelves and overall sales “are up like 700 percent over the last two months.”

A prepper himself, he said his greatest fear was a U.S. economic collapse as a result of the country’s unsustainable debt.

“Once people go hungry, they are going to get to the streets and look for food,” said Zrazhevskiy, 31, who grew up in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn and now lives in Texas.

Customers were snapping up $500 CBRN suits to withstand chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attack and $200 gas masks in sizes that fit children as young as 5.

“Gas masks? I’ve got tons of those,” said prepper Jerry McMullin, 62, a retired risk assessment analyst whose bunker-like home in Yellow Jacket, Colorado, was built to withstand nuclear attack, biological warfare and a range of natural cataclysms.

Although North Korea is one of his biggest concerns, McMullin is also worried about political instability in Washington leading to riots and mayhem in the cities, he said.

“I’m not a paranoid guy. I just want to be in a position that when it does go to Hell, I’m in a good location to get whatever I need,” said McMullin, who has his own water filtration system and burns his own trash in his solar-powered home.

In recent weeks, some doomsayers have expressed a belief that according to Biblical prophesy Saturday, September 23, would kick off seven years of catastrophic events that would lead to the end of the world as we know it.

David Meade, a Christian numerologist and author, has said that, based on the Book of Revelations, a constellation would appear over Jerusalem on Saturday that would start the seven years of mayhem.

But McMullin said his own respect for Bible prophesy assures him that disaster is not around the corner.

“As far as getting wiped out this weekend, I’m not too worried about that,” McMullin said.

“Maybe it’s a timeline marker and things are going to start getting really ramped up. We are not about to go through mass destruction and fatality. I think people are a little more stable – except for Kim,” he said, referring to North Korea’s President Kim Jong Un.

Preppers including Yellin and McMullin said images of people incapacitated by recent natural disasters left them feeling vindicated about the stockpiles they keep, which raise eyebrows among those who consider their planning extreme.

“I’m more of what I consider a common sense prepper,” Yellin said. “Because at the end of the day, we are responsible for our own safety.”

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty, Toni Reinhold)

Japanese towns hold drills for natural disasters, and missiles too

School students take part in an evacuation drill based on the scenario of a launch of North Korean missiles towards the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam that would fly over their homes, in the town of Kotoura, Tottori prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan held annual exercises on Friday to prepare for disasters but this year it was not just the danger of earthquakes and tsunamis that was on the minds of many people – the threat of North Korean missiles also loomed large.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries and it carries out disaster drills every year on Sept. 1, the anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 that killed at least 100,000 people and devastated Tokyo.

Military helicopters clattered over Tokyo as authorities practised for a 7.3 magnitude quake directly under the capital.

“In order to save even one additional life, we will promote preventive measures to tackle various types of disasters and a well-balanced disaster prevention plan based on self-help, public assistance and cooperation,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after taking part in a drill.

Towns in north Japan took the opportunity to remind residents what to do, not only when Mother Nature strikes but when a North Korean missile approaches too.

Local residents take part in an emergency drill in the wake of repeated missile launches by North Korea, in Takikawa on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, in this photo taken by Kyodo September 1, 2017. Kyodo/via REUTERS

On Tuesday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan, triggering widespread emergency warnings that jolted millions awake, before it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

Sirens blared again on Friday in towns like Takikawa in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, and residents took cover inside, in line with government warnings to seek shelter below ground or in a solid building.

Not that residents needed a reminder of the danger.

“The real thing happened before the drills, so today everyone took part with a sense of urgency,” one resident of a northern town told a broadcaster.

The government says there is a 70 percent chance a magnitude 7 earthquake right under Tokyo in the next 30 years.

On March 11, 2011, Japan’s northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, which triggered huge tsunami waves.

About 20,000 people were killed and the tsunami triggered a meltdown at a nuclear plant, the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Villagers begin to mourn dead after deadly China landslide

Relatives of victims react at the site of a landslide in the village of Xinmo, Mao County, Sichuan Province, China June 26, 2017.

By Sue-Lin Wong

XINMO, China (Reuters) – Villagers in China visited what used to be their relatives’ homes on Monday to mourn loved ones lost when a landslide swept down a mountain, with little hope of finding anyone alive after more than 48 hours of fruitless searching.

At least 93 people are missing after the landslide engulfed Xinmo village in mountainous Sichuan province as dawn broke on Saturday. Ten people have been confirmed dead.

“Our house was somewhere around here but everything has been destroyed beyond recognition,” said a middle aged woman, one of a few residents who were away when disaster struck, after she pulled a green blanket she recognised out of the mud and rocks.

Rescue workers carry a victim at the site of a landslide that occurred in Xinmo Village, Mao County, Sichuan province, China, June 25, 2017. China Daily via REUTERS

The government has sent some 3,000 rescuers, along with heavy digging equipment, and has promised to do all it can to look for survivors.

Heavy rain triggered the landslide, authorities have said.

Some villagers said they’ve always known landslides are a big danger but authorities never offered to help them move.

With danger of more landslides, authorities have been restricting access to the disaster zone, but hundreds of people were allowed back on Monday.

Mournful wails and firecracker explosions echoed through Xinmo’s steep valley as bereaved relatives returned, many clutching snacks and wrapped in plastic and bottles of wine as offerings for the dead.

Some people burned paper money and lit incense which, along with setting off fireworks, are traditional acts of mourning.

“Every single family has been impacted by the landslide, it’s horrible,” said Sun Danxian, from a neighbouring village who was walking through the site.

The government of Mao county, where the village is located, posted on Monday drone video footage of the area showing about dozen mechanical diggers shifting through a landscape of grey rocks.

‘LYING FOR THREE DAYS’

Earlier on Monday, about 100 villagers, unhappy with what they said was limited information, met government officials at a nearby primary school, insisting they had to get to Xinmo.

They also voiced fears about the possibility of rebuilding homes before winter and what would happened to orphans.

“These government officials have been lying to us for three days,” a middle aged man from Xinmo, with several missing relatives told Reuters. He declined to give his name.

“They told us we could go back yesterday morning but they kept delaying and delaying giving us all kinds of excuses. They told us a central government official was going to come to visit us. He showed up and didn’t even bother to speak to us.”

Another relative said the government should have moved them out of an area they knew was prone to landslides.

“There have been landslides before but no one has ever suggested we move. The government knows it’s dangerous to live in these kinds of villages and yet they do nothing,” said the elderly man, who also would not provide his name.

The official China Daily cited Xu Qiang, a disaster expert at the Ministry of Land and Resources, as saying large-scale relocations in the area were difficult.

“Many of the villagers have been living here for generations and have seen no major geological disasters,” Xu said. “This is their home and livelihood and it is very difficult to convince them to leave, specially when you only have a hypothesis and predictions.”

Sichuan province is also prone to earthquakes, including an 8.0 magnitude tremor in central Sichuan’s Wenchuan county in 2008 that killed nearly 70,000 people.

Mao county is next to Wenchuan. State media said the mountainside that collapsed onto the village had been weakened by the 2008 earthquake.

Most residents of the area are poor farmers of the Qiang ethnic minority and the area is the target of a poverty alleviation project, according to government officials.

(Writing by Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel)

Oklahoma faces continued risk of quakes linked to drilling: USGS

An oil pumpjack is seen in Velma, Oklahoma U.S. April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Luc Cohen

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Parts of Oklahoma and Kansas are likely to experience damaging earthquakes as a result of oil and gas industry activity in 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Wednesday in its second annual forecast of natural and human-caused seismic risk.

The forecast comes amid a years-long string of temblors in Oklahoma that has coincided with a drilling boom in the state, and which scientists have attributed to wastewater disposal wells used by the oil and gas industry.

“The good news is that the overall seismic hazard for this year is lower than in the 2016 forecast, but despite this decrease, there is still a significant likelihood for damaging ground shaking in the (Central and Eastern United States) in the year ahead,” said Mark Petersen, chief of the USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project.

The seismic risk maps are used by emergency management officials as well as the country’s major engineering and design associations to guide how strong to construct new buildings.

The USGS last year identified risks from human-caused earthquakes for the first time and has said that overall earthquake activity is hundreds of times higher than rates seen in around 2008, when the oil and gas drilling boom began.

The USGS said the 2017 forecast decreased compared to last year in part because wastewater injection used for oil and gas production likely decreased due to lower energy prices.

Oklahoma last year experienced a 5.8-magnitude earthquake, the largest ever recorded in the state, as well as the highest number of large earthquakes compared to any prior year.

Approximately 3.5 million people live and work in areas surveyed in the seismic risk map. The majority of this population is in Oklahoma and southern Kansas.

“Millions still face a significant chance of experiencing damaging earthquakes, and this could increase or decrease with industry practices, which are difficult to anticipate,” Petersen said.

The disposal of saltwater – a natural byproduct of oil and gas drilling – into wells has been tied to earthquakes. Oklahoma regulators have already ordered many disposal wells to curb operations.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Richard Valdmanis, G Crosse)

Italian earthquakes cause widespread damage, but kill no one

An officer of the State Forestry Corp national police stands in front of a collapsed church in Campi di Norcia, central Italy

By Isla Binnie and Antonio Denti

VISSO, Italy (Reuters) – Earthquakes caused widespread damage and terrified residents in central Italy overnight but killed no one, two months after a strong quake left nearly 300 dead and razed villages in the same area.

Several people were slightly injured, but only a few needed hospital treatment, the Civil Protection Agency said.

In Visso, one of the larger hill towns hit, the mayor said most of the damage had been to buildings already weakened by the Aug. 24 earthquake.

“The situation is ugly and you can see the noticeable damage, but luckily I can say it’s better than it looks. We don’t have victims or seriously injured people or anyone missing,” Giuliano Pazzaglini said.

The quake was nonetheless a severe blow to a town that had started to work on rebuilding after the last tremor, Pazzaglini said, and the hours following it were full of anxiety for people in the border area of the Marche and Umbria regions.

Many people slept in their cars. In Campi, a town of about 200, rescue workers set up some 50 beds in a quake-proof building for people who could not sleep in their homes.

“I can’t shake off the fear,” said Mauro Viola, 64, who said he had not slept and had spent the night outside.

“I am afraid to see what my house looks like.”

Police had blocked off the road to his home with a bench, and Viola said a chapel nearby had collapsed.

Boulders tumbled down the valley into roads around Visso. Officials were restricting access to its historic center, awakening grim memories of the leveling of the hilltop town of Amatrice in August.

“The only time I have cried today was when I wasn’t allowed to go into the historic center,” said Visso restaurateur Elena Zabuchynska, 43.

“I thought of Amatrice, all fallen down, and I thought our city center might look like Amatrice.”

RUBBLE

The three main overnight quakes came about two hours apart. Close to Visso, the rose-windowed facade of a late 14th century church, San Salvatore a Campi di Norcia, was reduced to rubble.

The first tremor measured magnitude 5.4, causing many people to flee their homes and the second was stronger at 6.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A 4.9 aftershock came a couple hours after that, and dozens of weaker ones followed.

“The first tremor damaged buildings, with the second one we had collapses,” fire department official Rosario Meduri said.

He had come from southern Italy before Wednesday’s tremors to help secure structures damaged by the August earthquake that hit some 50 km (30 miles) to the south.

The quakes were probably a continuation of seismic activity that began in August, Massimiliano Cocco from Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The fact that the first earthquake was weaker than the second probably helped save lives because most people left their homes before the second, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on state radio.

The government said it set aside 40 million euros ($44 million) during a cabinet meeting on Thursday for immediate costs related to the earthquakes. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi planned to visit the area hit hardest later in the day.

(Additional reporting by Massimiliano Di Giorgio; Writing by Steve Scherer and Isla Binnie; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Oklahoma hit by more than 400 earthquakes in first two months of 2016

Oklahoma was shaken by more than 400 earthquakes in the first two months of 2016, the latest in a state that has experienced a marked increase in seismic activity in recent years.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data shows the Sooner State experienced about 430 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater in January and February, an average of more than seven per day.

About 240 quakes of that magnitude occurred elsewhere in the continental United States during the same time frame, according to a searchable earthquake archive on the USGS website.

Magnitude 2.5 is the minimum strength reported on the USGS’s earthquake tracker.

Oklahoma rarely experienced earthquakes of that size before 2009, when the state’s seismic activity began to surge. USGS data shows the state was hit by about nine earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater in 2008, and that number rose to more than 2,700 last year.

The uptick has been linked to wastewater produced by the oil and gas industries, and state officials have taken steps to limit the amount of wastewater that can be disposed in wells.

Both the USGS and Oklahoma Geological Survey have issued warnings about the increase in earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater, saying the rise in quakes of that size increases the odds that Oklahoma will experience a larger, potentially more damaging earthquake in the future.

USGS data shows Oklahoma felt about 169 quakes of that size in January and February. The rate, an average of more than two per day, places it on pace to break the 2015 total of about 900.

The agency has said that Oklahoma’s average was about two per year between 1978 and 2008.

This year’s events include a magnitude 5.1 earthquake that occurred on Feb. 13 near Fairview. That is the state’s third-largest quake on record, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

Three days later, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission announced it was implementing its biggest plan to reduce wastewater disposal yet, affecting 245 disposal wells across more than 5,200 square miles. Researchers recommended the plan should be implemented gradually over the next two months to avoid sudden pressure changes, the commission said in a news release.

In late January, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced that $1.4 million would be withdrawn from the state’s emergency fund and given to earthquake researchers and regulators.

Quakes in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas rise as global averages remain constant

The central United States saw a rise in seismic activity last year, seismologists said Monday.

Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas combined to witness 32 earthquakes of at least magnitude 4.0 in 2015, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said in a news release announcing last year’s global earthquake totals, nearly doubling the 17 quakes of that size that hit those states in 2014.

The news will hardly surprise residents of Oklahoma, which has seen a dramatic rise in quake frequency and magnitude since 2009. Officials have linked the surge to wastewater from oil and gas companies operating in the state, and regulators have taken steps to reduce its production.

Globally, however, the USGS said last year’s quake totals were “on par with prior year averages.”

The world usually sees about 14,500 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater and 18 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater every year, according to the USGS. Last year, those totals were 14,588 and 19, respectively, though the numbers may change pending a final review.

While earthquake totals might not have increased, the USGS reported they were far deadlier.

The organization said earthquakes killed 9,612 people last year, up from the 2014 total of 664.

Nearly 9,200 of them were killed in magnitude 7.8 and 7.3 earthquakes that hit Nepal in April and May, the USGS said. The first and more powerful quake on April 25 killed 8,964 people, and 218 died in the May 12 quake. Another 430 died in quakes in Afghanistan, Malaysia and Chile.

While Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas saw some powerful earthquakes, they didn’t see the most powerful one to hit the United States last year. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake off the coast of Alaska’s remote Unmak Island in July holds that distinction, according to the USGS.

However, Oklahoma’s trend of increased activity appears to be carrying over into the New Year.

The state has already seen seven earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater in 2016, USGS data indicates. This year’s quakes include a Jan. 6 magnitude 4.8 earthquake near Fairview that is one of the strongest in the state’s history, according to Oklahoma Geological Survey records.

Oklahoma experienced just 21 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater in a 64-month stretch from January 2009 to May 2014, the USGS said in a news release at the time. That included a magnitude 5.6 quake that hit near Prague in November 2011, the state’s strongest on record.

Both the USGS and Oklahoma Geological Survey have cautioned the rise in Oklahoma’s earthquake activity increases the risk that the state could see an even bigger quake.

Oklahoma isn’t the only state where earthquakes pose a risk to the public.

The USGS reported last August that about 143 million people in the continental United States live in areas where they could be exposed to potentially damaging earthquake tremors. That was nearly double its previous estimate of 75 million people, published in 2006. The organization said the rise was the result of population shifts and a better understanding of seismic activity.

California, Washington, Utah, Tennessee, Oregon, South Carolina, Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois are the states with the most people exposed to potentially damaging shaking, the USGS said.

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