Second Earthquake Halts Cuadrilla Activities

A second earthquake near Blackpool has resulted in the suspension of hydraulic fracturing activities by Cuadrilla Resources.

Activities have been halted a second time following an earthquake last Friday which occurred at the same time that Cuadrilla was injecting fluids under high pressure deep underground, resulting in concerns that the earthquake may have been triggered by the shale gas extraction process.

"It seems quite likely that they are related," said Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey. "We had a couple of instruments close to the site and they show that both events were close to the site and at a shallow depth."

The 1.5 magnitude quake last week follows to a 2.3 earthquake in April in the same area .

Read More from The Independent HERE

Read the Cuadrilla Statement Below

Statement on May 27th earthquake in Poulton area.

Cuadrilla Resources, the shale gas exploration company, has postponed fracing operations on its site at Weeton, near Poulton in Lancashire. The company decided on this action whilst it interprets seismic information received from monitoring information located around the site, following a small seismic event in the Blackpool area recorded at approximately 0.48 am on Friday, May 27th 2011.

Experts from Keele University operate the monitoring equipment independently and the recorded information is being shared with the British Geological Survey and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

“We take our responsibilities very seriously and that is why we have stopped fracing operations to share information and consult with the relevant authorities and other experts. We expect that this analysis and subsequent consultation will take a number of weeks to conclude and we will decide on appropriate actions after that,” said Mark Miller, CEO of Cuadrilla Resources.