Fracking - or hydraulic fracturing - is a process in which rocks are deliberately fractured to release oil or gas by injecting highly pressurised fluid into a borehole. This fluid is usually a mixture of water, chemicals and sand.
Research lead author Miles Wilson, a PhD student in Durham University's Department of Earth Sciences, said: "Induced earthquakes can sometimes occur if fracking fluids reach geological faults. Induced earthquakes can be a problem and, if they are large enough, could damage buildings and put the public's safety at risk.
"Furthermore, because some faults allow fluids to flow along them, there are also concerns that if injected fluids reach a geological fault there is an increased risk they could travel upwards and potentially contaminate shallow groundwater resources such as drinking water.
"Our research shows that this risk is greatly reduced if injection points in fracking boreholes are situated at least 895m away from geological faults."
In the latest research the researchers used data from previous fracking operations to measure the distance between the furthest detected microseismic event - a small earthquake caused by hydraulic fracturing of the rock or fault reactivation - and the injection point in the fracking borehole.
Microseismic data was used in previous Durham University research from 2012. This suggested a minimum vertical distance of 600m between the depth of fracking and aquifers used for drinking water, which now forms the basis of hydraulic fracturing regulation in the UK's Infrastructure Act 2015.
Professor Richard Davies, Newcastle University, who leads the ReFINE project, said: "We strongly recommend that for the time being, fracking is not carried out where faults are within 895m of the fracked borehole to avoid the risk of fracking causing earthquakes and that this guideline is adopted world-wide."
No mention IF this will affect long dormant faults which may not be known. Texas recently got a rude awakening after a few faults which had been dormant for 10,000 + years became active again and started spreading and interconnecting. In regards to UK in general, the added stresses on the tectonic plates from the mass ice melting in the north, along with the accompanying geological uplift should be a factor in the research and accounted for. These may be wildcard factors but they are changing things exponentially quicker.
Really? Not 894 m or 896 m but 895 m ?
When will the hypocritical mutts in New York stop using fracked fuel from the Dakotas, since they won't allow fracking in their OWN state? Typical of that group.
uh, fracking is NOT the main cause of all the shakers going on now (in the US). It is an issue of waste water injection into old wells (and other deep holes). In addition, 90% of that water is NOT from fracking.
What a superficial piece of work.
"When"? Never NYC lives in a world removed from reality.
This is a crock! a Liberal crock. New York State could supply the US with years of oil reserves and tens of thousands of jobs. But the democrats hate jobs, growth, and prosperity. They don't do well if America is prospering. So screw you American worker we want you to suffer. So you will want our cheap temporary handouts.
If the downstate NYC public employee unions could get their grubby hands on the oil/gas property taxes NYS would be the nations biggest oil boom. Filthy bastards!