Unusually Strong Earthquake Jolts Louisiana on Friday

The earthquake epicenter was at the orange dot inside the colored concentric circles. Image: USGS

An unusually strong earthquake jolted Louisiana on Friday afternoon. According to USGS, at 3pm in the afternoon, a magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck from a depth of 5 km near the town of Edgefield which is between Shreveport and Alexandria. Dozens of people used the “Did you feel it?” reporting tool on the USGS website to report they felt the quake, with reports coming mainly across northwestern Louisiana. This was the only earthquake reported in the area over the last 3 weeks.

The updated model shows areas in red with the greatest chances of seeing a damaging earthquake over the next 100 years. Image: USGS — The updated model shows areas in red with the greatest chances of seeing a damaging earthquake over the next 100 years. Louisiana is not in an area prone to significant quakes. Image: USGS

According to USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 , more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.

Fracking-generating earthquakes have been a concern in places like Oklahoma and could also become problematic for Louisiana. Beginning in 2009, Oklahoma experienced a surge in seismicity according to USGS. “This surge was so large that its rate of magnitude 3 and larger earthquakes exceeded California’s from 2014 through 2017,” writes USGS in a report analyzing the increase in seismicity here. “While these earthquakes have been induced by oil and gas related process, few of these earthquakes were induced by fracking. The largest earthquake known to be induced by hydraulic fracturing in Oklahoma was a M3.6 earthquakes in 2019. The largest known fracking induced earthquake in the United States was a M4.0 earthquake that occurred in Texas in 2018. The majority of earthquakes in Oklahoma are caused by the industrial practice known as “wastewater disposal”. Wastewater disposal is a separate process in which fluid waste from oil and gas production is injected deep underground far below ground water or drinking water aquifers. In Oklahoma over 90% of the wastewater that is injected is a byproduct of oil extraction process and not waste frack fluid.”

Each color dot reflects oil/gas production sites, many of which are fracking related, across Louisiana and nearby offshore waters. Image: Fractracker Alliance

According to USGS, Louisiana where this most recent earthquake struck is not a seismically active part of the country. According to the Fractracker Alliance, though, the area of this earthquake is in an area rich of fracking and oil and gas production.