Much of the production , using new horizontal drilling techniques , produces at very high rates , with very high water-to-oil ratios . Thus many of the disposal wells , which re-inject the brine into underground formations , handle much more water at much higher pressures than has been common in other , often older , plays . When high volume , high pressure liquids follow the planes in some susceptible dormant faults , it frequently causes them to slip resulting in quakes . After the strongest earthquake in Oklahoma 's history , at Pawnee , recorded at 5.8 on the Moment magnitude scale , concerns about the relationship between disposal wells and earthquakes caused state and federal regulators to respond by shutting down more than 50 disposal sites and wells across the state , considering their proximity to fault lines
earthquake
2016 Oklahoma earthquake
Cushing, Oklahoma