The Ohio Department of Natural Resources halted operations at a Noble County well pad operated by Houston-based Encino Energy that the agency says “likely” caused a series of earthquakes nearby.
ODNR’s network of seismographic stations around the state detected 53 earthquakes in Noble County, located in southeast Ohio, in that time frame. Most were so small they likely went unnoticed. But three reached magnitudes of 2.8, 3.3 and 3.4. People are thought to notice earthquakes at about a 3.0.
The agency’s division of oil and gas resource management reviewed seismographic data along with other records of the hydraulic fracturing (the technical term for fracking) from Encino “and concluded that the events were likely linked,” according to ODNR spokeswoman Karina Cheung.
State records show a dramatic uptick in the frequency of earthquakes in Noble County, which experienced its first earthquake in 2017. Between then and 2024, the county averaged less than five earthquakes per year. But there have been 69 so far this year, including four between 2.8 and 3.4 on the Richter scale.
Encino didn’t return a call or questions about ODNR’s allegation sent to a spokesperson for the company. The Ohio Oil and Gas Association didn’t return a phone call or text to a spokesman about the issue.
Can fracking cause earthquakes?
Yes, according to Mike Brudzinski, a professor of seismology at Miami University. Both fracking – the spraying of a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure, deep underground, to free natural gas from shale – and the injection of that wastewater underground as a disposal method can cause earthquakes.
He credited ODNR for swiftly intervening to stop Encino’s operations and said there are different mitigation strategies companies can undertake to prevent similar disturbances. That includes pumping less fluid underground, changing components of that fluid and reducing the number of wells in operation at once.
ODNR didn’t respond to an inquiry about when Encino can resume its operations or under what conditions.
Speaking generally, Brudzinski said the earthquakes aren’t necessarily bad in themselves – there’s no evidence they cause any long-term problems. But fracking and wastewater injection-related earthquakes have reached 4.0 magnitude in Texas, Oklahoma and Canada, and both a 5.3 and a 5.7 in China, he said.
The state’s risk tolerance for both high- and low-magnitude earthquakes caused by fracking, he said, is ultimately a question for the industry and state officials.
“Earthquakes are one part of a decision that needs to be made by every company, every regulator and every state trying to decide how they want to handle this issue,” he said in an interview.
Who is Encino Energy?
Encino, a privately held company based in Houston, identifies itself as the largest oil producer and one of the largest natural gas producers in Ohio.
It mostly operates in Ohio on privately owned land. However, Encino has paid tens of millions to lease out more than 31,000 acres owned by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District – a special government subdivision that oversees the Muskingum River watershed over more than 30 counties. Plus, the company has paid the district hundreds of millions in royalties on its gas production.
The company has also paid about $1.5 million in lease bonuses, with more to come in royalties, to drill for oil and gas under the ODNR-owned Valley Run Wildlife Area, Leesville Wildlife Area and Zepernick Wildlife Area.
Where do most Ohio’s earthquakes happen?
Using Ohio’s earthquake data:
- Harrison has felt the most earthquakes of any county over time with 227, followed by Lake (197), Washington (130), Noble (102) and Ashtabula (64)
- Washington County – home to the intersection of two fault lines – has had the most earthquakes this year with 76. It’s followed by Noble (69), Lake (5) and Guernsey (5).
- The biggest quake on record, a magnitude 5.4, hit Shelby County in March 1937.