The Oklahoma Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against three Oklahoma energy companies, accusing them of using saltwater disposal wells that are contributing to the state's sharp rise in earthquake activity.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oklahoma City, asks the court to "reduce, immediately and substantially," production waste from Devon Energy Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp. and New Dominion LLC. It also asks for the companies to "reinforce vulnerable structures" that could be affected by large earthquakes. The group wants an independent earthquake monitoring and prediction center to analyze the wastewater volumes and links to induced seismicity.

“Based on publicly available data, the conclusion that wastewater injection and the recent spate of earthquakes in Oklahoma and southern Kansas are related is inescapable,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit comes days after a magnitude-5.1 earthquake hit near Fairview on Saturday. The state has recorded more than 140 earthquakes greater than magnitude-3.0 since the beginning of the year, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. Eight of those have been above magnitude-4.0.