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A new study published today in the journal Science has uncovered even more evidence that there is a direct link between the process used for hydraulic fracking of underground natural gas and small earthquakes. Interestingly enough, the earthquakes are not triggered by the drilling or removal of gas and oil, but by even larger earthquakes reverberating from the other side of the world. However, the injection of wasterwater fluids can be the the mechanism that primes the area for a quake.

According to a review of the study by Mother Jones, areas with "high subsurface fluid pressures" (e.g., underneath volcanoes and geysers) are already known to see an increase in seismic activity when massive earthquakes strike, even when the pressure occurs naturally and those earthquakes are very far away. The effect takes months to develop as the shockwaves from the bigger quake move slowly under the Earth's surface, so the connection between tremors in say, China and Wyoming, won't be obvious to casual observers.