Pennsylvania confirms first fracking-related earthquakes
In April 2016, Texas-based Hilcorp Energy Company was fracking a pair of wells in the Utica Shale near New Castle, Pennsylvania when seismic monitors nearby detected five tremors, measuring between 1.8 and 2.3 on the Richter scale. Quakes that small are too faint to be felt on the surface. But they were significant, if only because fracking-induced earthquakes had never been recorded in the state.
. . . Hilcorp immediately shut down the well, known as the North Beaver NC Development well, when DEP alerted the company to the seismic activity. In a statement, company spokesman Justin Furnace said the company is reviewing the DEP’s report and has no immediate plans to resume work on the well.