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The study, published Tuesday in Seismological Research Letters, reports that fracking waste injection wells are now the leading cause of earthquakes in Texas. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves thrusting chemicals and water against shale rock to break it up and release oil or gas. The process produces large amounts of waste fluid, or brine, that is either recycled or disposed of in injection wells.
Earthquakes are caused by the movement of the tectonic plates underneath Earths surface.Volcanic eruptions only happen in certain places because they only form on the plate boundaries where there is a subduction boundary.