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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.
Natural Causes Intraplate Earthquakes. The ones that take place away from the plate boundaries are known as intraplate earthquakes. The primary cause of this type is the presence of tectonic faults in the Earth's crust. A fault is defined as a crustal plane, which shows a relative movement of the crustal rocks with respect to their positions.