UT Study Links Recent Texas Quakes to Oil Activity

A new study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin concludes that human activity has been a factor in earthquakes throughout the state for nearly 100 years.

The study conclusions are in a paper to be published in the journal Seismological Research Letters. The Dallas Morning News reports the study concludes that activity associated with oil and gas production “almost certainly” or “probably” triggered 59 percent of the earthquakes detected across the state in 1975-2015, including recent seismic activity in North Texas.

Another 28 percent of the quakes were “possibly” triggered by oil and gas exploration and production, and just 13 percent were caused naturally.

A spokeswoman for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, dismissed the study’s methods as “arbitrary.”