No Link Found Between W.Va. Quakes, Drilling
Charleston Gazette
5 March 2011
By The Associated Press
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- State officials say they've found no link between
minor earthquakes that rattled central West Virginia last year and
natural gas drilling.
At least eight earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.2 and 3.4 were
reported in Braxton County in 2010. Some residents and officials had
expressed concern that the temblors were related to drilling.
Michael Hohn with the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey told
The Parkersburg News that the agency couldn't find a link between
drilling operations and the earthquakes.
He says the earthquakes were probably more of a coincidence.
A spokeswoman says the Department of Environmental Protection never
made a connection between seismic activity and drilling operations.