Removal of oil from the large Kettleman Hills fields , mainly the North Dome , has been suggested as a cause of the 1985 M6 .1 earthquake , since the total deformation caused by the quake was exactly that necessary to compensate for the oil removed historically , i.e. by filling the vacated space . The same mechanism has been suggested for the 1983 Coalinga earthquake and the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake , both of which occurred near the centers of mature oil fields
1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake
1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake
Kettleman North Dome Oil Field