Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.8 earthquake hits the Bali Sea.

5.1 earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.

5.0 earthquake hits Seram, Indonesia.

5.0 earthquake hit South of Java, Indonesia.

5.0 earthquake hits Coquimbo, Chile.

Oklahoma Suffers Its 2,724th Earthquake Since 2010

A cluster of earthquakes in Oklahoma earlier this month helped push the state to 62 temblors this year alone of magnitude 3.0 or more — and 2,724 of that magnitude or more since 2010.

This year is on track for a huge decline from the peak of Oklahoma's restlessness in 2015, when the state felt a staggering 903 quakes of magnitude 3 or greater. But it's also a far cry from Oklahoma's norm before 2009, when the state recorded an average of one or two magnitude 3.0 or more earthquakes each year.

The rapid rise in quakes and subsequent fall bolsters the findings that Oklahoma's foundations are moving because of oil and gas activities. Most quakes are due to the injection of large amounts of wastewater from wells into subterranean rock layers. A few localized quakes are likely the direct result of fracking, in which underground charges are set off to puncture rock and improve the flow of oil and gas into a well. As Oklahoma regulators have finally limited the amount of wastewater that oil and gas operators can inject underground, quakes have fallen off.