"Early Los Angeles-Area Quakes Linked With Oil Production"

"Several damaging Los Angeles-area earthquakes of the 1920s and 1930s, including the deadliest ever in Southern California, may have been induced by oil production during the region's drilling boom of that era, U.S. government scientists reported on Tuesday.

The findings of a possible link between oil extraction and seismic events in the L.A. basin some 80 or 90 years ago do not apply to modern industry practices but suggest the natural rate of quake occurrences in the region may be lower than previously calculated, the scientists said.

The study's authors, Susan Hough and Morgan Page of the U.S. Geological Survey, stressed a distinction between their results and separate research attributing a growing frequency of quakes in Oklahoma and elsewhere to underground wastewater injection associated with fossil fuel production."

Steve Gorman reports for Reuters November 1, 2016.