Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road fracking site, 23 August 2019. Photo: Maxine Gill
People living around Cuadrilla’s shale gas site reported shaking buildings and windows last night from a 2.1ML tremor.
This is the strongest seismic event so far induced by fracking at the Preston New Road site near Blackpool. It brings to more than 90 the number of tremors since fracking resumed at the site less than a fortnight ago.
Within minutes of the tremor, there were reports that people had felt it from surroundings towns and villages including Blackpool, Weeton, Westby, Peel, Kirkham, Wrea Green, Great Plumpton and Lytham St Annes.
Angry local opponents of the industry called for an immediate moratorium before “serious injury or damage is done”.
The British Geological Survey gave the tremor a score of 3 points on the EMS Intensities scale (where 1 is lowest and 12 highest).
There was no fracking yesterday and DrillOrDrop understands the last fracture at Preston New Road was on Friday (23 August 2019).
Largest earth tremors induced by fracking at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site since 15 August 2019. Map: DrillOrDrop using BGS data
Cuadrilla issued a statement at 12.49am this morning, which said the tremor was detected at 11.01pm and measured 2.23ML.
A spokesperson said the tremor lasted about 1 second and resulted in ground motion of less than 1.5mm/second. This measures what people feel at the surface and was more than three times higher than the largest previous ground movement recorded at Preston New Road.
An updated company statement at 2.04am reduced the magnitude to 2.1ML. Fracking was not happening at the time, the statement said.
A company spokesperson said well integrity had been unaffected and all the relevant regulators had been informed. The spokesperson added:
“Minor ground movements of this level are to be expected. Whilst this event has been felt by people on our site and some local households, it is well below anything that can cause harm or damage to anyone or their property.”
Shortly after the tremor, a spokesperson for Preston New Road Action Group told DrillOrDrop.
“This tremor feels like it has been the biggest yet with reports coming in from Blackpool, Weeton, Westby, Kirkham and Wrea Green within minutes of it occurring. Several reports of windows and building shaking.
“This terrifying experience is being imposed on our community by an unnecessary and unwanted industry.
“The Government should see sense and re-impose the fracking moratorium immediately before any serious injury or damage is done. Enough is enough.”
A spokeswoman for Frack Free Lancashire said:
“We are livid that we are once again, being put in harm’s way for an experiment that we didn’t ask to be part of.
“Why are our communities being forced to accept this dangerous and contemptuous industry, when it is clear that they have zero control over the impacts that fracking brings with it?
“There was no fracking today, and yet, the after-effect it has caused, is a sizeable earthquake with widespread reports of property damage. We are angry and demand an urgent reconsideration of a fracking moratorium.”
Under Cuadrilla’s hydraulic fracturing plan, tremors measuring 0.5ML or more that happen after fracking operations are considered to be trailing events. The company must pause fracking for 18 hours and check well integrity.
Last night’s 2.1ML was almost as strong as the biggest tremor induced by Cuadrilla’s fracking operations. On 1 April 2011, the company caused a 2.3ML during its frack at Preese Hall, also in Lancashire.
Relative size of tremors induced by fracking at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas since since 15 August 2019. Chart: Refracktion
The largest tremors induced by fracking at Preston New Road since 15 August have all been in the last four days.
All the tremors measuring 0.5ML or above were at latitudes 53.787 or 53.788. Three were reported as felt.
21 August 2019: 1.6 and 0.9
22 August 2019: 1.0
23 August 2019: 1.1
24 August 2019: 0.5 and 2.1
For more details see DrillOrDrop PNR tremor tracker 2019
Update: damage
At 9.42am, Cuadrilla said it had received just one report of damage. The company said it had written to people living near the site on how to get in touch.
Frack Free Lancashire said it knew of many people whose property had been damaged.
Updated 28 August 2019 to reference the EMS Intensities scale
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
Wide spread reports of damage? I think someone’s telling porkies
Are you really calling the BGS liars Judith?
“Felt by several residents in Great Plumpton, Westby, Weeton, Peel, Wesham, Blackpool and Lytham St Annes.”
You’ll be calling it a microseismic event next!
how is felt and causing damage related? One feels a train going by but it doesn’t do damage
You should try looking on social media Judith (no not the pages you normally frequent).
Here’s an example for you
But I’ll leave you to try to persuade yourself that all is still well with your pet industry for a few hours more.
Refracktion – there is absolutely no way that has been caused by a 2.1 Ml tremor
We’ll see shall we?
Seriously bad maintenance to this roof [edited by moderator]
We await the verified evidence of “widespread reports of property damage”…..actually, what I should say is that we await evidence of property damage – anyone can report anything they want.
If this is the case then I expect the operation will be shut down and Cuadrilla will cease operations. If this is the case…….
I don’t think Judith is calling BGS “liars”. This is what BGS are stating (as you well know John):
“Felt by several residents in Great Plumpton, Westby, Weeton, Peel, Wesham, Blackpool and Lytham St Annes.”
No reference to any damage of any kind. But that may change with evidence.
Yeah my bad – I was assuming you’d been following social media on this.
Sorry don’t do twit face.
Judith,
As a local resident who actually felt nothing, possibly because I was driving my
car miles away from home at the time of this latest, largest fracking Induced earthquake in England since Preese Hall, I’d also question the quotation from Frack Free Lancashire.
If there was indeed widespread damage caused by Cuadrilla’s fracking attempts at least this time those adversely affected will be able to claim on their insurance policies because of awareness of cause!
I think that the accuracy of the statement needs verifying and if it turns out to be exaggerated needs correction and apologies from those concerned.
If of course the statement is proven to be accurate I would expect you to do the same!
So Judith,
Your best friends Cuadrilla admit to having received ONE report of damage.
That’s a first in itself.
Maybe there’s more in the pipeline?
Time will tell.
Reports of damage are different to actual damage. Some one reported that the Preese Hall event through a certain clown out of his bed – not very likely
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Hi Ruth, thanks for posting that, i saw this sentence in the text above:
“The British Geological Survey gave the tremor a score of 3 pints on its intensity scale (where 1 is lowest and 10 highest).”
Perhaps that should be “a score of 3 points” rather than “a score of 3 pints” although perhaps 3 pints or even 10 pints might have been necssary to calm their or Cuadrillas shaky nerves?
Also i heard this morning that Cuadrilla are still attempting to say that the 2.1ML event was at a time when no fracking was taking place. So Cuadrilla are indeed trying to indicate that this discredited term of “trailing event” is nothing to do with fracking as that is what the implication is supposed to suggest to the relatively uninformed public at large.
So it is just another game of words isnt it, and that is deliberate disinformation, obfuscation and manipulation of the media.
PhiC – Cuadrilla are certainly not trying to say this is nothing to do with fracking. The fact that you’re insinuating that they are trying to mislead the public is misleading in itself.
“Judith?” darling? How nice to hear from you? I read what you said so i thought how do i verify that?
So i went to speak to my neighbours who were putting the garden chairs out,
This is what the couple next door said, they had also heard the news this morning because they know i am interested in the fossil fuel activities.
Both said that when they heard about the 2.1 ML earthquake event and that it was said by Cuadrilla to be at a time when no fracking was taking place, they naturally assumed that the two were therefore not related and tended to dismiss the earthquake, as we do not live in that particular influence zone ourselves.
So no “Judith?” darling, if even two members of the public were fooled by that attempted disinformation, then Cuadrilla and the BBC did indeed succeed in misleading the public. As would i if i had heard that and not known better from yesterdays conversations regarding trailing events.
Sorry to burst that particular balloon, or rather pint jar, “Judith?” darling, but what i said was perfectly correct, peolpe were indeed fooled by that deliberately misleading account on the BBC, which was no doubt sponsored by Cuadrilla, and i am absolutely certain that many other people would say the same.
Only the foolish will have made that interpretation. No one can issue statements that are totally idiot proof
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I just showed my neighbours your comment on the tablet, they used several words to describe what they thought of your comment, the only repeatable word however was “knowitall”, i must admit, i concur.
But never mind. Have a nice Sunday anyway….
Thanks for pointing out the mistake – corrected now
Thanks Ruth, could you leave the “pints” reference of mine in if you don’t mind, i rather enjoyed it!
Just waiting to hear what Cuadrilla will compare this to. We’ve had the dropped frying pan, dropped shopping bag, I say dropping a car on someone’s house if we are to multiply up. They felt it at the site and some locals, who actually live quite far away according to BGS reports
A dropped pint or 3 or 10 perhaps Paula?
PaulaC – the ground motion will have been equivalent to a train passing by at a distance of a few hundred meters.
Judith. how intense was the effect and motion at the well? You don’t know? Neither do I. Cuadrilla haven’t yet said, which given their prompt response to the earlier three recent largerevents is surprising. Let’s wait and see what the results of the well tests are. Last time we had something approaching this ML at Preese Hall, as I am sure you are aware, there was damage to the well. Cuadrilla hid this fact for a while. Do you wonder people don’t trust them? Do you now wonder why people who have been woken from sleep, or have had books fall off shelves according to local press reports this morning, are concerned? Forget your science. Forget your bias in favour of the industry. Brush up on your caring side.
Are Cuadrilla permitted to undertake none stimulation operations on a Sunday? To check the casing integrity mechanically (ID) and with pressure?
Alan – there has never been an example of earthquake damage to a well causing leakage. Wells get damaged all of the time and this doesn’t cause leakage. To suggest that this is a realist mechanism for leakage is not supported by scientific evidence
There has been evidence of damage causing well deformation. It is suggested but not officially accepted that this may have caused casing breakdown. Agreed not the same as proof that leakage has occurred. But whether failures cause leakage is not relevant in assessing ultimate risk. Your second sentence is frankly nonsensical. If fracking can damage a well then more serious damage can cause loss of integrity. And this is what we fear. The cavalier attitude of yourself and Cuadrilla is not willing to consider the precautionary principle. Cuadrilla have caused movements in faults, they have shifted the underground geology. They are affecting the lives of their neighbours. It is unacceptable.
The thing is Alan – I’ve had 30 years experience working on these issues and I don’t know of an example where leakage has occurred as a result of shear deformation of a well bore. Unless you kind come up with some one can only assume that this leakage mechanisms is just one of your little fanticies
Well, according to the Liverpool University’s ‘Seismic Context Measurements for Induced Seismicity” that Cuadrilla uses, a 2.1ML is the same as “a toddler playing (on a wooden floor)”.
That’s one hell of a big toddler.
Honey I blew up the kid?
When horse hill well was releasing pressure local tremors 3.1 around Newdigate and Beare Green. Could be similar
MAN MADE EARTHQUAKES
January 9, 2018, 6:19 AM
Man-made earthquakes shake over a dozen areas in U.S.
Following details may be helpful for all the concerned regarding the trailing news and after effects of shale gas fracturing.
More than a dozen areas in the United States have been shaken in recent years by small earthquakes triggered by oil and gas drilling, a government report released Thursday found.
The man-made quakes jolted once stable regions in eight states, including parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, according to researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey.
Experts said the spike in seismic activity is mainly caused by the oil and gas industry injecting wastewater deep underground, which can activate dormant faults. A few instances stem from hydraulic fracturing, in which large volumes of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into rock formations to free oil or gas.
Many studies have linked the rise in small quakes to the injection of wastewater into disposal wells, but the Geological Survey’s report takes the first comprehensive look at where the man-made quakes are occurring.
“The hazard is high in these areas,” said Mark Petersen, who leads the agency’s national mapping project.
Oklahoma lately has been rocked by more magnitude-3 quakes than California, the most seismically active of the Lower 48 states, Petersen said.
Kaushik – what point are you trying to make?
hmm if you cannot work that out I don’t think you are unbiased JG. !!!!! You should be careful on here as many posting are by people who are a lot more informed than you may be assuming – Mr Tootill for instance. Anyway I have got things to do and places to go today but I think its fair to say that the general public are fed up with constant denials in the face of good evidence.
denials about what exactly. The post by Kaushik states that injection of fluids into the subsurface sometimes causes seismicity – I just presumed that everyone knew that.
If you had been involved a few years ago, Judith, you would not have presumed. You would have bought the industry line that fracking and seismic activity were unconnected. We didn’t. The Blackpool 2011 event forced a change. Stage 1 the US industry brushed off any effect as being down to wastewater inection. It was only later that it became accepted that Preese Hall, if nothing else, proved the direct link between fracking and seismic activity.
It is interesting, though, that you are now shoehorned into admittiing that any injection sometimes causes seismicity. You have been forced into that position by not your side’s scientific evidence but that of others who, although less well funded, have had more independent assessments.
BUT what you fail to accept is that in the Fylde EVERY fracking causes seismic events. Cuadrilla is a cowboy firm who knew squit about us when they moved here thinking we were an easy touch. We don’t want that threat here. We don’t want Cuadrilla. How could the message be simpler?
Cuadrilla planned between 80 and 100 PADS in our area. NO. We will fight tooth and nail against every one.
Firstly, where have I ever failed to accept that every well causes seismicity. I know full well that it is impossible to hydraulically fracture without creating seismicity – fracturing causes seismicity full stop. Secondly, I have been involved with this from day one. I was in fact due to visit Preese hall on the day of the 2.3 Ml event but the trip was called off due to the operation being closed down. They didn’t have local seismic monitoring at the time so it was picked up by the very sparse BGS array. The initial interpretation put the event at some distance from the fracking site so many people thought that it was unrelated to the fracking. It wasn’t until a more sophisticated velocity model was developed that it became obvious that fracking did cause that event. So it is hardly surprising that Cuadrilla initially denied they had caused the 2.3 event; they were just going on the information that they had available at the time.
The point I am trying to make here is to appraise all about the risk factors of such activities n also for better understanding of the issue as well. In USA also people have raised voice against such drilling activities
Thanks.
Kaushik – thanks for the clarification – I think people are very much aware of the issues in the USA
Hey Judith,
The point that Kaushik us making so very well, obviously beyond your comprehension though, is that your industry started off denying any liability for damages caused by their pre-fracking activities when they were first sneaked into the Fylde by the toxic Tories.
Or that fracking is directly responsible for causing swarms of earthquakes in areas hardly ever previously affected.
Now that their culpability has been proved beyond doubt Cuadrilla are attempting to minimise all results, above and below ground..
This is mendacity at it’s finest as becomes the Industry, it’s facilitators and it’s political enforcers.
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Peter, we have known for many years that fracking creates seismicity. Industry interprets the evidence it has. The seismicity at Preese Hall was defected be seismometers that were a considerable distance from the event. To locate the location of the event one needs to make assumptions regarding the seismic velocity of the rock between the seismometer and the event. Early interpretations of such data are often inaccurate due to poor assumptions on the velocity. So when Preese Hall happened the initial interpretation indicated the event occurred some way from the well. Hence Cuadrilla , like others who interpreted the seismic data thought it wasn’t related to fracking. It wasn’t until we had a better understanding of the velocity structure did it become clear what the interpretation was. I’ve never seen industry purposely mislead about seismicity – they simply give the best interpretation based on the data they have. The examples provided above are all well known. Some are related to fracking some are not. Either way, they are certainly not new to me and I don’t believe they show industry to have purposefully mislead the public
Summary
DATE 08/08/2019
ORIGIN TIME 16:52:05.2 UTC
LOCATION 50.067 -5.187
DEPTH 5 km
MAGNITUDE 2.3
LOCALITY HELSTON,CORNWALL
Located approximately 7km SE of Helston, Cornwall. Felt mainly within 20km of the epicentre with the majority of felt reports coming from Helston, Porthleven, Constantine, Camborne and Penryn.
No reporting on this one which is bigger? I wonder if it is geothermal related or just a natural event. There are geothermal operations underway in Cornwall.
And don’t forget Newdigate.
The authorities will only do something when a building falls down or someone is killed.
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So Judith,
Your best friends Cuadrilla admit to having received ONE report of damage.
That’s a first in itself.
Maybe there’s more in the pipeline?
Time will tell.
It is not a first, Peter. Unless you are speaking specifically about PNR.
Good point Alan,
If Cuadrilla caused damage previously by seismic testing or fracking were they actually took to Court?
If so what was the outcome and details please?
I could never find that out Peter. I am pretty sure at least one claim was made and pursued but information dried up which made me suspect it was settled out of court.
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This [out of court settlement with non-disclosure agreement] technique is established Oil and Gas tactics imported from the USA along with their corrosive industry.
Peter – have you got any references that we can read to back up your little conspiracy theories?
Judith, that’s the whole point! There is no researchable evidence out there in England at the moment! The non-disclosure agreements and settlement out of court agreements have seen to that!
However time will tell as in the mature fracking zones where after all the harm caused people are coming forward despite these initial agreements being put in place years ago.
Perhaps you are in the minority in the Fylde Peter – after all you keep electing Conservative MPs and Hill and Nanny got nowhere?
Paul,
You’re quite right about being in a minority on the Fylde!
My mother-in-law always said you could put up a Tory pig for MP around here and it would get elected!
Anyway I’m local born and bred so I’m not giving up. I believe the geology of the Fylde will prove to be the deciding factor here, even if scientific evidence, presumption of harm and threat to Human wellbeing doesn’t do the job!
Mike Hill got a massive vote for a non-politician, if he’d been elected at least we’d have proper knowledgeable representation at Parliament!
When Egan was saying how brilliant the traffic light system would be, didn’t he say he was confident there would be absolutely no earthquakes? How many have we had and what is he saying now?
He didn’t say there would be no tremors. We all know there are micro tremors.
Clinch – the evidence coming from the USA at the time was that one didn’t create too many tremors above 1Ml – no one realised that was because the seismicity was being recorded on the wrong instruments.
Bollocks. Wrong instruments> FFS you shift and shape Clicnch my arse.