Earthquake awareness event set in Medford

MEDFORD, Okla. (AP) – Earthquakes that have shaken parts of Oklahoma and Kansas will be the focus of an event dedicated to raising awareness about earthquakes and their connection to drilling techniques used by the oil and natural gas industry.

The event is scheduled on Saturday in the northern Oklahoma city of Medford, just south of the Kansas border. The free event is sponsored by the Oklahoma Sierra Club and the Kansas Sierra Club.

Residents of the region are invited to discuss the ongoing threat of earthquakes and examine the practice of hydraulic fracturing which utilizes underground injection wells to dispose of drilling wastes and by-products.

The governments of both Kansas and Oklahoma have acknowledged that the use of underground injection wells can be linked to the swarm of earthquakes experienced in both states.