WICHITA — Wichita, welcome to California. A new map by the U.S. Geological Survey shows Wichita is now as likely to experience damaging earthquakes as San Francisco or Los Angeles. However, there are some differences. Wichita earthquakes aren’t as likely to kill Wichitans. And now for the first time, the new maps now identify quakes caused by human activity as well as those caused by natural tectonic hazards. This is also the first map with a one-year outlook for the nation’s earthquake hazards. That’s because of so-called “induced quakes” caused by oil and gas activities and can be easily changed or controlled, according to the geological survey. Wastewater from oil and gas fracking operations is disposed by injecting it into deep underground wells, below aquifers that provide drinking water, the geological survey explained. The injection of the wastewater is causing the earthquakes in Texas, Oklahoma and southern Kansas, as well as other areas where fracking is occurring. Since major fracking started, the region has seen a dramatic increase in earthquakes, the geological survey said.
Tuesday, March 29, 4 p.m.
