Earthquakes increase in SE Ohio in 2025

By JESS MANCINI

Staff Reporter

The number of earthquakes in Southeast Ohio have greatly shot upward in the past year, according to a database kept by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Since Jan.1, 2025, at least 173 tremors have been recorded in Washington, Athens, Guernsey, Belmont, Hocking, Meigs, Jackson and Noble counties with the most in Washington and Noble, 77 and 69, respectively.

In comparison for the region, 31 were recorded in 2024 and 17 in 2023, according to the database.

Among the largest this year was a magnitude 3.9 on Feb. 3 in Jackson County and 3.4 on April 24 in Noble County, according to the database.

Called induced seismicity, the relationship between earthquakes and injection wells has been studied in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado where a connection has been found between the two, among those in a study in the journal “Geology” in central Oklahoma.

“Yes, injection wells can cause earthquakes. It does not mean they always cause earthquakes,” said Tej Gautam, a professor in the Petroleum Engineering and Geology Department at Marietta College.

Earthquakes can happen due to normal geological reasons and tectonic movements, he said. Southeast Ohio is not over the main Appalachian fault line, however, there are a few local faults in Washington County like the Burning Spring Fault system, Gautam said.

“They are not seismically active faults. These faults are less likely to create any significantly higher-magnitude earthquake,” Gautam said. “However, you cannot guarantee the location and magnitude of an earthquake beforehand.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, fluid injected at depth is sometimes hydraulically connected to faults.

“When this happens, fluid pressures increase within the fault, counteracting the frictional forces on faults. This makes earthquakes more likely to occur on them,” the Geological Survey said. “An analogy to this system is an air hockey table. When an air hockey table is off, the puck does not move readily, but when the table is on, the puck glides more easily. Raising fluid pressure within a fault is like turning on an air hockey table.”

Not all wastewater disposal wells induce earthquakes, the survey said. Of more than 150,000 Class II injection wells in the United States, roughly 40,000 are waste fluid disposal wells for oil and gas operations and only a fraction of those have caused earthquakes large enough to be of concern, it said.

“It is possible this is true in Ohio as well, but there has not been enough research to prove this,” Gautam said. “The public should not be concerned about these minor quakes, but should be aware of the fact that earthquakes can happen due to these activities.”

Earthquake monitoring capabilities have greatly improved over the last decade, Karina Cheung of the Department of Natural Resources, said.

“Equipment has become more sensitive and network density has improved, enabling lower magnitude detection thresholds to events around ML 1.0 and sometimes lower,” she said.

As for a connection between the earthquakes and the injection wells in the area, the department can not say with certainty how many were naturally occurring or caused by injection wells, Cheung said.

“But ODNR does believe that it’s likely that two injection wells in the area caused some seismic activity this year,” she said. “These wells are currently under suspension by ODNR.”

Environmentalists, who say the increase in earthquakes is caused by the amount of fracking waste going into a growing number of injection wells, also fear an impact on drinking water wells.

“The evidence for a connection between brine-waste injection and earthquakes in the region is compelling,” George Banziger, a former Marietta College professor who is an environmentalist active with Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, said. “While it is only correlational, it at least bears further study and even a moratorium on further injection wells in the county so that a causal link can be determined.”

Washington County ranks in the top two counties in Ohio – Portage County is the other – in volume of injected brine waste, almost 6 million barrels in 2023, Banziger said. The research shows earthquakes are unlikely when the fluid is at 3.6 million barrels a year, he said.

“Washington County has almost 6 million barrels a year,” he said.

According to the Buckeye Environmental Network, at least 17 injection wells are operating in Washington County, the most in any county in Ohio. A suspension of a horizontally drilled well in Noble County is related to earthquakes, said Roxanne Groff of the Environmental Network.

“There is, and there should be grave concern over the number of injection wells being permitted in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio,” she said. “Wells are being suspended for migration of brine out of injection zones due to geologic structure and amount of waste and tremendous pressure of injection. The lack of oversight for management of these wells is due to an uneducated Legislature and their belief that the oil and gas industry is telling the truth.”

The fear is the contamination of drinking water sources. Concerns have been raised by the Little Hocking Water and Sewer Association and Marietta City Council, which in October passed legislation dealing with injection wells after the state approved a permit for an injection well about two miles from the municipal water well field.

The resolutions call for legislators to impose a three-year moratorium on injection wells for time to further study their impact, create an Injection Well Task Force in council’s Sewer and Sanitation Committee and to authorize the law director to seek legal remedies at his discretion.

In July 2024, the Division of Natural Resources hired Patriot Engineering and Environmental to study private water wells in the area of four suspended Class II injection wells to verify brine has not migrated into shallower aquifers providing drinking water supplies to water wells located within a half mile radius of the suspended injection wells and seven oil and gas wells. Based on the findings, the division said it concluded no water wells that were sampled were impacted by brine associated with the injection wells.

Water wells sampled were in Belpre and Decatur townships in Washington County and Rome and Troy townships in Athens County.

The ODNR has long been a national leader regarding the regulation of underground injection wells and seismicity for the oil and gas industry, said Rob Brundrett, president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. Ohio has stringent rules and procedures to protect health and ensure safe drinking water, Brundrett said.

“It is extremely important to note that Ohio has not had a single instance of drinking water contamination due to Class II wells or from potential seismicity,” Brundrett said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com

Earthquake Recordings

2025

Guernsey, Dec. 18

Guernsey, Dec. 3

Jackson, Mov. 26

Guernsey, Nov. 9

Guernsey, Nov. 3

Guernsey, Nov. 2

Guernsey, Nov. 1

Guernsey, Oct. 31

Guernsey, Oct. 30

Guernsey, Oct. 29

Washington, July 28

Athens, July 25

Noble, June 7

Noble, May 18

Noble, May 17

Noble, May 12

Meigs, May 11

Noble, May 10

Noble, May 9

Washington, May 9

Noble, May 9

Noble, May 8

Noble, May 7

Noble, May 6

Noble, May 4

Noble, May 2

Noble, May 1

Noble, April 30

Noble, April 29

Noble, April 28

Noble, April 25

Noble, April 24

Noble, April24

Noble, April 24

Noble, April 23

Noble, April 22

Washington, April 12

Guernsey, March 18

Guernsey, March 14

Guernsey, March 13

Noble, March 13

Hocking, Feb. 19

Washington, Feb. 17

Washington, Feb. 16

Belmont, Feb. 12

Washington, Feb. 9

Washington, Feb. 7

Washington, Feb. 6

Washington, Feb. 5

Washington, Feb. 4

Washington, Feb. 3

Jackson, Feb. 3

Washington, Feb. 1

Washington, Jan. 29

Washington, Jan. 28

Washington, Jan. 27

Washington, Jan. 25

Noble, Jan. 5

Noble, Jan. 4

2024

Noble, Dec. 13

Noble, Dec. 10

Washington, Nov. 22

Washington, Oct. 4

Athens, Sept. 30

Washington, Aug. 21

Meigs, Aug. 20

Washington, Aug. 9

Washington, July 14

Guernsey, July 13

Washington, June 21

Washington, June 19

Washington, May 13

Washington, May 12

Washington, April 30

Washington, April 2

Guernsey, April 3

Washington, April 3

Guernsey, April 2

Meigs, March 1

Guernsey, Feb. 27

Guernsey, Feb. 15

Meigs, Feb. 9

Washington, Jan. 26

2023

Athens, Dec. 27

Athens, Dec. 18

Belmont, Nov. 18

Belmont, Nov. 17

Belmont, 11 17

Washington, Oct. 22

Washington, Oct. 12

Hocking, Aug. 1

Washington, July 10

Jackson, May 22

Washington, May 15

Belmont, April 28

Gallia, April 8

Athens, Feb. 4

2022

Washington, Dec. 6

Guernsey, Nov. 3

Athens, Oct. 31

Belmont, Sept. 30

Belmont, Sept. 29

Belmont, Sept. 28

Jackson, June 20

Noble, April 13

Meigs, March 15

Washington, Feb. 19

Gallia, Feb. 15

Washington, Feb. 2

2021

Washington, Nov. 25

Washington, Nov. 22

Washington Nov. 17

Washington Aug. 10

Noble, Feb. 16

Washington, Feb. 13

2020

Gallia, Dec. 28,

Guernsey, Oct. 15

Washington, July 10

Washington, March 23

Morgan, Feb. 23

Noble, Feb. 3

2019

Noble, Nov. 9

Noble, Nov. 8

Noble, Nov. 7

Noble, Nov. 5

Noble, Nov. 4

Noble, Nov. 3

Noble, Nov. 2

Noble, Oct. 31

Noble, Oct. 29

Noble, Oct. 21

Noble, Sept. 25

Noble, Sept. 24

Meigs. Aug. 23

Meigs, Jan. 20

Washington, Jan. 6

2018

Washington, Nov. 24

Meigs, Nov. 17

Noble, Nov. 1

Noble, July 31

Hocking, April 29

Washington, March 25

Washington, Jan. 26

2017

Washington, Dec. 28

Washington, Dec. 9

Noble, June 3

Noble, April 17

Monroe, April 9

Monroe, April 8

Monroe, April 4

Monroe, April 2

Monroe, April 1

Monroe, March 30

Monroe, Jan. 2

2016

Monroe, Dec. 21

Monroe, Dec. 15

Monroe, Dec. 12

Monroe, Dec. 9

Monroe, Nov. 29

Harrison, Nov. 27

Guernsey, Aug. 3

Washington, June 3

Washington, May 18

Washington, May 11

Washington, April 27

Gallia, March 8

2015

Washington, Dec. 18

Washington, July 19

Meigs, July 10

Washington, March 3

Jackson, Feb. 11

Earthquakes increase in SE Ohio in 2025

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