--- description: There were 6,000 earthquakes in Oklahoma last year—and this year's already worse title: Humans Created an Earthquake Crisis. Here's How image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte461122f288ab4a3/69888c998e060152524652e2/facebook-oil-drilling-earthquakes.jpg?branch=production ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See How Oil Drilling Created an Earthquake Crisis in Oklahoma by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/), [Lon Tweeten](/author/lon-tweeten/) and [David Johnson](/author/dave-johnson/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:36 PM CUTPublished: Mar 27, 2016 4:00 PM CUT  Lon Tweeten for TIME by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/), [Lon Tweeten](/author/lon-tweeten/) and [David Johnson](/author/dave-johnson/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:36 PM CUTPublished: Mar 27, 2016 4:00 PM CUT In the last few years, [Oklahoma has become one of the most seismic places on the planet](http://time.com/4253764/in-2007-oklahoma-had-one-earthquake-last-year-there-were-more-than-900-what-happened-greed-politics-and-the-biggest-oil-boom-in-decades/ "undefined"). Last year, there were almost 6,000 earthquakes, 900 of which were magnitude 3 or higher, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Scientists say the increase is due to hundreds of saltwater disposal wells around the state that pump brackish water that comes up naturally during drilling back underground. The state’s quakes have become so frequent that the USGS [released a new nationwide hazard map](http://time.com/4273258/usgs-earthquake-map-oklahoma/ "undefined") Monday which, for the first time, included manmade earthquakes and showed parts of Oklahoma to be as seismic as California. See how oil drilling causes earthquakes in the video above, and [read more about it here](http://time.com/4253764/in-2007-oklahoma-had-one-earthquake-last-year-there-were-more-than-900-what-happened-greed-politics-and-the-biggest-oil-boom-in-decades/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4271194/oil-drilling-earthquake-crisis-oklahoma/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4271194/oil-drilling-earthquake-crisis-oklahoma/"},"headline":"See How Oil Drilling Created an Earthquake Crisis in Oklahoma","datePublished":"2016-03-27T16:00:35.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T15:36:02.000Z","description":"The state has become one of the most seismic places on the planet","url":"https://time.com/4271194/oil-drilling-earthquake-crisis-oklahoma/","keywords":["Environment","California","Oklahoma","Oil","earthquakes","fracking"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte461122f288ab4a3/69888c998e060152524652e2/facebook-oil-drilling-earthquakes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Lon Tweeten","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"David Johnson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dave-johnson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte461122f288ab4a3/69888c998e060152524652e2/facebook-oil-drilling-earthquakes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"facebook-oil-drilling-earthquakes","caption":"oil drilling earthquakes","creditText":"Lon Tweeten for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4271194/oil-drilling-earthquake-crisis-oklahoma/","name":"See How Oil Drilling Created an Earthquake Crisis in Oklahoma"}}]}] ```